2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC [Archive]

Welly Wu

May 28th, 2015, 01:40 PM

Thank you.

I did not mention why or what this new 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC is going to be used for. I purchased it because I have a very large apartment and a medium sized bedroom, but I have a small wooden desk. I wanted a GNU/Linux certified desktop PC so that I am guaranteed that all of the PC hardware components are 100% compatible especially with the latest Ubuntu 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux desktop operating system. This desktop PC will be used primarily for SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC gaming. I have 533.00 PC games in my Steam library of which 243.00 are available for SteamOS + GNU/Linux. That is roughly 45% which is not bad in my opinion. Recently, I went on a buying spree to get a whole slew of AAA, AA, A SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games from the Humble Bundle Store Spring sale and Steam. I do not shop at GOG yet. While my Lenovo IdeaPad Y510P notebook PC is capable of playing most AAA SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games at high or very high graphics settings at 30.00 frames per second or faster, I wanted a GNU/Linux certified desktop PC for more unique features and capabilities along with pure performance. I wanted to spend a reasonable amount of money to get most of my boxes checked off without going overboard by spending double or triple the amount that I did wind up spending for excessively powerful PC hardware components. I also wanted a relatively compact and smallish desktop PC case with more limited upgrade path options because I am not going to tear it apart and upgrade everything internally for the next couple of years. I looked at System76 and ZaReason and the latter company offers more compelling products that fit my budget and personal needs better at this time.

I plan to contact ZaReason via telephone later today to ask them some more questions about my new 2015 Zeto desktop PC and about the ordering, build, and shipment processes in detail. I will ask them if swapping out the internal SSDs and reinstalling Ubuntu 14.04.2 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux will pose any unique challenges and about adding the Logitech G710+ mechanical keyboard later this year during the holiday shopping season. I am thinking that I should be good to go because these minor PC hardware component changes are relatively minor and easy to do in the field by the end user.

I plan to keep both PCs for a long period of time. In the future, I plan to buy higher end, more modern, and more powerful GNU/Linux certified desktop PCs. I went through four notebook PCs in the since 2008 and I am getting tired of the expense and hassle of replacing notebook PCs every two years or less.

I also purchased two Aurum high speed 6.6' long HDMI cables:

2. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009DMGASW?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

This should work.

RichardET

May 28th, 2015, 05:44 PM

I ordered my new ZaReason Zeto Ubuntu 14.04.x 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux desktop PC! It cost me $1,982.00 USD with no New Jersey sales tax or shipping fees.

Intel 4th generation "Haswell" Core i7-4790 3.60 - 4.0 GHz quad-core with Hyper Threading and Turbo Boost CPU
16.00 GB DDR3 1,600 MHz RAM
Crucial SATA-III 6 GB/s 256.00 GB solid state disk
Slot loading CD-RW/DVD-RW drive
Dual Gigabit Ethernet + 802.11 dual-band AC/B/G/N Wi-Fi with Bluetooth 4.0
nVidia Geforce GTX 970 with 4.0 GB GDDR5 video RAM GPU
500 watt 80 Plus Gold power supply
ASUS LED 22" 1920 X 1080P monitor
Logitech MK120 USB 2.0 wired keyboard and mouse
1 year warranty

I also ordered two 6.6 foot long HDMI cables from Amazon to connect either my Lenovo IdeaPad Y510P or ZaReason Zeto to my ASUS 22" LED monitor.

I plan to switch my Crucial M550 2.5" 7.0 mm (with 2.5 mm bracket) SATA-III 6 GB/s 1.0 TB solid state disk from my Lenovo IdeaPad Y510P notebook PC to my new 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC. I plan to put the Crucial 2.5" 9.5 mm SATA-III 6 GB/s 256.00 GB solid state disk from my ZaReason Zeto into my Lenovo IdeaPad Y510P notebook PC. I also plan to reinstall the latest Ubuntu 14.04.2 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux desktop operating system to enable full-disk encryption and nVidia Geforce GT/GTX proprietary graphics drivers using the latest X-Org Edgers PPA on both PCs. It should take me roughly two days to reinstall my favorite software applications. I am keeping my personal user data on my Transcend StoreJet USB 3.0 2.0 TB MIL-STD portable, rugged, encrypted hard disk drive so I can plug it into either PCs and access my stuff.

I should expect safe delivery of my new 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC sometime in late June 2015.

I am excited!

Never heard of this company - so it was an interesting post for me, but I checked out the website - why not go with the Valta X99i? It's specs are for serious work:

The high-end i7 LGA2011-V3 processor with an available 8-cores (16 threads) makes the Valta X99i the ultimate desktop/workstation. Designed to perform and built to last.

Intel Haswell i7 CPU (LGA-2011 v3 socket) 6 or 8 core
DDR4 Memory
Dedicated ATI or Nvidia GPU
SATA3 6Gb/s
7.1 High-Definition Audio
Side Window
Case Fan Controller (High/Low/Off)
Silent Case Fans w/ blue LED

Welly Wu

May 28th, 2015, 05:51 PM

The reason why I didn't go for the Valta X99i is because the desktop case is much too big for my wooden desk. I wanted to be able to put my ZaReason Zeto desktop PC on my wooden desk right next to my ASUS 22" Full HD monitor. It's pretty crowded right now, but I think that I can make it fit if I remove some stuff off the surface of my wooden desk. What I'm really trying to write here is that I like compact and small form factor desktop PCs, but not necessarily something like an Intel NUC or ZaReason Zini 1550. I still need fairly modern and powerful desktop PC hardware components to play older and newer SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games. The other reason why I did not get the Valta X99i is due to cost. I wanted to spend up to $2,000.00 USD in total including shipping fees. Fortunately, ZaReason has a limited Memorial Day sale whereby they offer free ground shipping until May 31st, 2015 so I took advantage of that special offer.

I think that I got not necessarily the best value for the dollar, but I got a reasonable GNU/Linux certified compact SFF desktop PC, monitor, keyboard, and mouse.

Welly Wu

May 28th, 2015, 10:26 PM

A few people asked me why I decided to purchase a GNU/Linux certified desktop PC. Here are my answers. First, I own a Lenovo IdeaPad Y510P notebook PC and it is certified to run Microsoft Windows 8.1 Home 64 bit. I got so fed up with Microsoft Corporation that I decided to throw away my Lenovo system recovery CD-ROMs in the garbage and I tried different GNU/Linux distributions. I tried Elementary OS Freya 64 bit, Linux Mint 17.1 64 bit, OpenSuSE 13.2 64 bit, Red Hat Fedora 22 Workstation 64 bit, Manjaro 64 bit, Arch 64 bit, Debian 8 64 bit, etc. Almost all of them either failed to install or boot or I had technical issues with the closed source, proprietary, nVidia Geforce 64 bit graphics drivers. In the end, I was lucky to get Ubuntu 14.04.2 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux installed and working with zero technical issues. It is important to recognize the fact that UEFI and especially Secure Boot plus the proprietary nVidia Geforce graphics drivers are in varying states of compatibility and support across different GNU/Linux distributions. This fact gets compounded when trying to install a GNU/Linux distribution on PC hardware components certified to run Microsoft Windows 7 or 8.1 64 bit. The other major issue is the Lenovo warranty. By switching to Ubuntu 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux, I voided my one year warranty so I am unable to get software support.

There is an Apple and Microsoft tax that must be paid with their products. The less mentioned fact is that there is a Linux tax. The Linux tax imposes significantly higher prices for GNU/Linux certified PC hardware components and products compared to Microsoft products, but it is due to the realities of the current PC market. Tier one PC OEMs like Hewlett Packard, Dell, Razer, Lenovo, etc. work to leverage the scales of economies within the Microsoft ecosystem of products and services while much smaller GNU/Linux certified PC OEMs or ODMs do not have this advantage yet. This is why GNU/Linux resellers like System76 and ZaReason in particular charge more for their products and services compared to Microsoft products and services. The other major consideration to take into account is the fact that building GNU/Linux certified PC hardware components into a desktop, notebook, or server costs more time and money for the reseller. Those costs are passed onto the customer directly.

The chief advantages of purchasing GNU/Linux certified PC hardware components and products is the 100% guarantee that most major distributions will work right out of the box and customers will get support for both the hardware and software. I don't have to fight with both the PC hardware components and the manufacturer which in my case is ZaReason just to get Ubuntu 14.04.2 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux installed and running smoothly. I used to own a 2012 System76 Lemur Ultra Thin (lemu4) notebook PC and Ubuntu 12.04.x 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux worked perfectly along with almost all of the other major GNU/Linux distributions that I tried in the past with that laptop. The peace of mind in knowing that I can play with my GNU/Linux without any major headaches and the support that comes from the company directly are priceless. Think about those facts the next time you consider purchasing a desktop or notebook PC and you intend to install and use GNU/Linux on it.

Finally, I wanted to mention the obvious: desktop PCs rock for pure performance! I am tired of having to purchase a new notebook PC every two years or less because something starts to malfunction or break through my heavy computing usage scenarios. I wanted to learn from the lessons in my past and try something new and different which is why I decided to purchase a new 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC. I expect this to last me up to five years with no major problems. Time will tell.

Welly Wu

May 29th, 2015, 12:20 AM

In December 2015, I plan to do some holiday shopping at Amazon:

Logitech G710+ illuminated mechanical USB 2.0 wired keyboard:

1. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009C98NPY/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=33SZNNRF4PRO5&coliid=I35X7DAMXAA4EC&psc=1

Western Digital Velociraptor 3.5" SATA-III 6 GB/s 10,000.00 RPM 64 MB cache 1.0 TB desktop hard disk drive:

2. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007VPGJIY/ref=s9_psimh_gw_p147_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=desktop-2&pf_rd_r=0M90ZMMCE70H6N0WWBMS&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=2091268722&pf_rd_i=desktop

I contacted ZaReason and they will wire my new 2015 Zeto desktop PC to be able to hook up a second hard disk drive right out of the box and they will provide me with all of the parts necessary including the SATA-III 6 GB/s cables and screws. Awesome! Altogether, my price should go up to $2,732.98 USD by the end of this year for my new 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC including the new keyboard and high speed hard disk drive. I can afford it.

Mike_Walsh

May 29th, 2015, 09:33 AM

...The reason why I didn't go for the Valta X99i is because the desktop case is much too big for my wooden desk...

...Altogether, my price should go up to $2,732.98 USD by the end of this year for my new 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC including the new keyboard and high speed hard disk drive. I can afford it.

You know, I kinda hate to say this, but..... If you're splashing out that kind of money on a new machine, couldn't you afford to buy a bigger wooden desk? :)

Regards,

Mike.

Welly Wu

May 29th, 2015, 04:31 PM

I just don't have enough physical space for a larger desk in my bedroom. I'm thinking about using the spare bedroom as my second one since it is not occupied. I'd rather not do this, but I may have to sometime in the future. I measured the ZaReason Zeto and ASUS monitor and both should fit along with the Logitech keyboard. It's going to be a tight fit, but there will be enough vertical space to allow all of my electronics to cool properly during the seasons. I should be getting my two Aurum HDMI 1.4a cables today. I think that I'll get my ZaReason Zeto desktop PC system on June 10th.

Welly Wu

May 29th, 2015, 06:42 PM

I wanted to ask a question to this community. I am going to have up to three internal solid state disks. On my Lenovo IdeaPad Y510P notebook PC, I have a Transcend M.2 42 mm NGFF SATA-III 6 GB/s 256.00 GB solid state disk and a Crucial M550 2.5" 7.00 mm (with 2.5 mm bracket) SATA-III 6 GB/s 1.0 TB solid state disk. I installed Ubuntu 14.04.2 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux on the Crucial M550 and I enabled full-disk encryption. I worked hard to install, configure, setup, and optimize my Ubuntu desktop operating system and everything is working just fine. For my new 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC, I will have a Crucial MX100 2.5" 7.00 mm SATA-III 6 GB/s 256.00 GB solid state disk and I will eventually have a Western Digital Velociraptor 3.5" SATA-III 6 GB/s 10,000.00 RPM 64 MB cache 1.0 TB hard disk drive. What should I do with the Crucial M550 1.0 TB SSD? Should I keep it inside my Lenovo IdeaPad Y510P notebook PC and just leave Ubuntu intact or should I put it inside my ZaReason Zeto desktop PC and reinstall Ubuntu 14.04.2 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux twice on both PCs in order to enable full-disk encryption and to get a clean installation?

Most of the time, I stay at home in my bedroom and I use my PC a lot. I play a fair number of SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games, but I limit myself up to five at a time because it gets to be too much to play more PC games at a time. Otherwise, I keep most of my personal user data on my Transcend StoreJet USB 3.0 2.0 TB 5,400 RPM MIL-STD certified portable, rugged, encrypted hard disk drive. I calculated the total disk space consumed by my five SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games and it is roughly 25.40 GB. Ubuntu typically takes up to 10.00 GB including my installed software applications, packages, libraries, and dependencies. In fact, I am using 44.40 GB on my Crucial M550 1.0 TB SSD, but this is what I consider to be a full desktop installation with everything installed except my personal user data such as my large multimedia library. I do own a legal copy of VMWare Workstation 11.1.0 64 bit and I have roughly 129.00 GB of guest virtual machines, but they are stored on my Transcend SATA-III 6 GB/s 256.00 GB SSD inside my Lenovo IdeaPad Y510P notebook PC. So, my calculations are such that I would consume roughly 174.00 GB of data on my Crucial MX100 SATA-III 6 GB/s 256.00 GB solid state disk inside my new 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC in order to replicate my Ubuntu 14.04.2 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux installation on my Lenovo IdeaPad Y510P to the desktop PC. It should be sufficient with enough available disk space to spare. In other words, I'm trying to make both my notebook and desktop PC as similar to each other as possible in terms of the Ubuntu desktop operating system, installed software applications, packages, libraries, dependencies, SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games, and VMWare Workstation guest virtual machines. I would still leave my multimedia library on my Transcend StoreJet portable hard disk drive so that it is convenient for me to access my personal user data between both PCs. I can also put it inside my Sentry Safe to lock it up and secure it.

When I travel, I do go for extended visits. I stay over at my parent's apartment in Northern New Jersey and my friends' apartments in Essex County, New Jersey for a few days. I also visit my local public library, coffee shop, eatery, etc. and I almost always bring my notebook PC and portable hard disk drive.

I am thinking that the WD Velociraptor will be used as a high speed scratch disk. I could transfer my VMWare Workstation guest virtual machines to it and create more of them in the future. This will save me 129.00 GB from putting them onto my Crucial MX100 SATA-III 6 GB/s 256.00 GB SSD inside my new 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC. I use VMWare Workstation quite a bit and I do download, install, and use quite a number of guest virtual machines daily. I like to test different desktop operating systems in a controlled and safe environment. Preferably, I like to keep my guest VMs on a separate disk partition and volume.

What should I do? Should I keep the status quo or should I switch the Crucial MX100 and M550 SSDs between the notebook and desktop PCs? What would you do and why?

Bucky Ball

May 29th, 2015, 07:17 PM

If you have support requests, please ask them in the appropriate support area on a new thread with a title that describes you support request.

You do yourself no favours asking for support eleven posts deep on a thread in a non-support area that, to this point, has had nothing to do with your issue and with a title that doesn't reflect it. Thanks and good luck.

acedia2

May 30th, 2015, 11:54 AM

You should either look into cloud storage or a external HDD. Having all your files synced to a central place and only having what is necessary on each device is ideal. If you are going to have other users (Someone house sitting) I would suggest locking and encrypting all your personal files in your storage and having guest user accounts enabled with access to standard software. Partitions for guests is overboard, If its only one device then it is simple. My only concern is if someone uses my computer, I haven't really tested how accessible my games, document libraries, music, vacation photos ect.. are. Also what kind of damage someone could acciedentally do. Once I have my own backup working I am going to create another user and try to hack my way around my devices. It is pretty easy to gather files from another partition in my opinion, not everyone is me though or knows how to google the right questions.

To answer your question, true mobility will come in the form of micro SD's and cloud storage. There are ways to access your home system while abroad, it is something you would have to look into. I travel a few times a year and either in university or doing correspondence programs and need access to my files.

Welly Wu

May 30th, 2015, 03:19 PM

I already have CrashPlan+ monthly Family Plan. I am backing up my data to CrashPlan Central. I also have a Transcend StoreJet USB 3.0 2.0 TB MIL-STD certified portable, encrypted, rugged hard disk drive.

ZaReason has all of the parts to assemble and test my Zeto desktop PC. It should take them 3 - 4 days to test it and they will ship it to me. It should take 5 days to ship from California to New Jersey. So, I'm hoping it will be here on June 10th. I'm excited!

Welly Wu

May 30th, 2015, 08:37 PM

After thinking about a second internal drive, I think that I will get a second 2.5" 7.00 mm (with 2.5 mm bracket) SATA-III 6 GB/s 1.0 TB solid state disk. I'm looking at the Samsung 850 EVO or the Crucial BX100 or MX100 to save on costs. I am also looking at Transcend Information 1 TB SSD which is probably what I will go with. I'm expecting significant price drops during December which is when I will be able to afford to get another 1 TB SSD. I contacted ZaReason to provide me with the parts necessary for my new 2015 Zeto desktop PC to install it. They should provide me with the power and data cables along with the mounting bracket.

1. http://www.amazon.com/Transcend-Information-2-5-Inch-Solid-TS1TSSD370/dp/B00K9HIF4C/ref=sr_1_19?ie=UTF8&qid=1433014382&sr=8-19&keywords=1tb+ssd

Welly Wu

May 31st, 2015, 01:27 AM

I think that it would be best for me to get that 1 TB SSD. I'll be using it to store my SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games so that I can play each one at a time as fast as possible. SSDs are incredibly durable, reliable, and fast compared to hard disk drives. This will allow me to download, install, and play many more SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games in the long term future. I can use my Transcend StoreJet to save my personal user data which mostly consists of my media library. That stuff requires a lot of disk space and speed is not a concern. I like the Transcend Information products and I own two of them and they are fantastic. The specific Transcend 1.0 TB SSD features power loss protection which both the Samsung 850 EVO and the Crucial BX100 lack. It also features MLC NAND FLASH which is faster and more durable than TLC NAND FLASH. I'm expecting the price of a new Transcend SATA-III 6 GB/s 1.0 TB SSD to be around $349.99 USD or slightly less during December 2015. I'll probably order mine from Amazon on December 4th, 2015 when I have enough money in my PNC Bank standard checking account. I expect to get some cash from family and friends during the holidays to offset some of the cost of this product. This will be the fourth solid state disk that I currently own on two PCs.

I plan to purchase a couple of SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games and DLCs for the ones that I already own during the Steam Holiday sale. This is the reason why I bought my new 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC so that I can get full desktop PC performance at an affordable price. Now that I think about it, notebook PCs are substantially more expensive for less powerful PC hardware components compared to desktop PCs. This will be my first in eight years. I'm expecting it surpass my high expectations and I should be satisfied with it for the next four and half years. I may decide to upgrade the graphics card in the distant future, but this is not certain yet. Goodness knows that I'm stuck with the CPU and GPU on my Lenovo IdeaPad Y510P notebook PC forever. This is why most PC gamers use desktop PCs. The upgrade path is easier and it is more flexible and customizable. The costs are about the same, but the quality of each PC hardware component is substantially higher.

I think that the ZaReason Zeto desktop PC is perfect for me because it's a compact and small form factor PC that is quite powerful and it provides sufficient upgrade opportunities in the long term future. It is the near perfect GNU/Linux certified gaming desktop PC for those with a smaller budget or physical constraints. The reviews for this product have been glowing and ZaReason is a trusted company among the GNU/Linux community. Most of their products last several years with no major issues from most customers.

monkeybrain20122

May 31st, 2015, 03:22 AM

I don't know, I didn't read all the long posts but it seems that you are loaded. Got any 2nd hand laptop you want to give away or sell at a low price? :)

Welly Wu

May 31st, 2015, 03:24 AM

That's funny and I took it the right way. No, I'm not giving away any PCs soon.

Welly Wu

June 3rd, 2015, 09:26 AM

My ZaReason Zeto desktop PC comes tomorrow. I do plan to give away my Lenovo IdeaPad Y510P notebook PC to my close friend Robert W. next Tuesday.

Welly Wu

June 4th, 2015, 06:23 AM

I just ordered a new Logitech G710+ illuminated mechanical USB 2.0 keyboard from Amazon. It will be delivered tomorrow.

My ZaReason Zeto desktop PC system will be delivered today by 8 PM EST.

I'm super excited!

I have a couple of hours worth of reinstalling Ubuntu 14.04.2 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux to enable full-disk encryption, my favorite software applications, my personal user data, and my SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games. It should take me roughly five hours to complete.

My friend Robert W. may be coming either this evening or tomorrow. We'll help each other out. He'll get his Lenovo IdeaPad Y510P notebook PC and a few accessories soon.

This is the first mid range GNU/Linux certified desktop PC that I purchased and owned in eight years.

Bucky Ball

June 4th, 2015, 06:33 AM

Intel 4th generation "Haswell" Core i7-4790 3.60 - 4.0 GHz quad-core with Hyper Threading and Turbo Boost CPU
16.00 GB DDR3 1,600 MHz RAM
Crucial SATA-III 6 GB/s 256.00 GB solid state disk
Slot loading CD-RW/DVD-RW drive
Dual Gigabit Ethernet + 802.11 dual-band AC/B/G/N Wi-Fi with Bluetooth 4.0
nVidia Geforce GTX 970 with 4.0 GB GDDR5 video RAM GPU
500 watt 80 Plus Gold power supply
ASUS LED 22" 1920 X 1080P monitor
Plus optional bits and pieces

Mid-range? Love to see top of the range ...

Welly Wu

June 4th, 2015, 08:00 AM

Okay. It's not mid range. It's upper mid range at best. I'm staying up all night and day today until I get my new ZaReason Zeto. I'll drink several large cups of Java Love black coffee without sugar, cream, or milk. I'm putting in my Crucial M550 SATA-III 6 GB/s 1.0 TB solid state disk, but I'll install Ubuntu 14.04.x 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux on the Crucial MX200 SATA-III 6 GB/s 256.00 GB solid state disk because it is sufficient for my desktop operating system and my favorite software applications.

This is the first time that I will ever get to use an illuminated mechanical keyboard. I never even tried a mechanical keyboard in my past. The Logitech G710+ is tested to pass 70.00 million individual keystrokes while the standard mechanical keyboard usually lasts up to 50.00 million individual keystrokes.

I'm stoked!

I still don't think that this is a high end desktop PC system. For me, high end starts around $3,000.00 USD and up. I haven't crossed that threshold yet, but I might in the future with more upgrades and PC hardware components and accessories.

Piece by piece, it's slowly coming together. Not my mind or wallet mind you.

Welly Wu

June 4th, 2015, 08:05 AM

This is my current LibreOffice Calc spreadsheet for my stuff.

I uploaded an updated copy of my LibreOffice Calc spreadsheet to reflect my current stuff. It is the larger of the two at 136.30 KB.

Welly Wu

June 4th, 2015, 09:35 AM

I'll tell you this much. I haven't even gotten my desktop PC system yet and I now think that notebook PCs serve a niche role that is no longer my cup of tea. The price to performance ratio is out of whack when you make things smaller and more proprietary. Toss in mobility and portability along with a battery and things really get stupid expensive especially for the high end exotic notebook PCs with unique features and capabilities. More notebook PCs are becoming less user serviceable with more soldered in, glued together, and form fitted parts that make it impossible to repair or upgrade easily and at an affordable price. Then, you have to factor in the risk factors of losing it or getting it stolen or damaged during travel especially if you have access to or store confidential information or data. Everything is limited by the constraints of the form factor, weight, and battery. Phooey!

Desktop PCs still deliver terrific value and performance with none of these limitations or restrictions. Choosing a free, libre, open source desktop operating system is the only logical choice. Modern Linux kernels are 99.9% compatible with most recent and especially older PC hardware components and devices in this world. Choosing the latest Ubuntu 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux distribution is the sensible thing to do as Canonical is poised for steady upward and outward growth over the foreseeable future. Ubuntu Unity is a carefully designed and engineered desktop environment and window manager that just works with most PC hardware and devices. Highly intensive computational or graphically challenging software applications run best on modern desktop or workstation PCs. This is how the professionals get work done daily.

I'm not saying that I will never buy another notebook PC again, but it will most certainly not be Microsoft Windows at all. Notebook PCs have their place and purpose, but I've outgrown it due to the frustrations that I described.

Today will be an excellent day. This is the day when I declare for myself desktop PC dominance over notebook PCs and I turn the chapter in my life to become a more hardcore Ubuntu GNU/Linux user. There will be so many new and interesting computing projects and challenges that await me and my ZaReason Zeto will carry the day. Besides, I almost always use a laptop as if it were a desktop so why not get the real thing? Desktops especially workstations rule.

RichardET

June 4th, 2015, 06:03 PM

This is my current LibreOffice Calc spreadsheet for my stuff.

You spent $7,921.78???

Welly Wu

June 4th, 2015, 06:23 PM

Yes I did. Why not? I did not include the cost of my Lenovo IdeaPad Y510P notebook PC in my LibreOffice Calc spreadsheet. That's an additional $1,842.97 USD. I'm using it right now.

Welly Wu

June 4th, 2015, 06:54 PM

Okay, so to calculate the amount that I paid for my 2015 ZaReason Zeto, I took the $1983.00 USD and I added $529.99 USD for the Crucial 2.5" SATA-III 6 GB/s 1.0 TB solid state disk because I am swapping it out of the Lenovo notebook PC into the desktop PC later today. I plan to use the Crucial M550 as my SteamOS + GNU/Linux drive and I will quick format and quick encrypt it using LUKS AES 256 bits SHA-1. I already have a unique, strong, complex, and long master password saved in my LastPass Premium vault. As a backup method, I printed my master credentials on a few sheets of white paper and I locked it inside my Sentry Safe. I also have a cross cut shredder. This is why the price for the ZaReason Zeto is higher than my original post.

Welly Wu

June 4th, 2015, 07:26 PM

This is my plan of action:

1. Wait for UPS to deliver my 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC system. Stay at home and watch my bedroom window toward the front door. When I see a UPS brown truck pull up and ring my doorbell, go downstairs to present my New Jersey Driver's License with my photograph and current home address. Sign for my package. Bring it upstairs gently. Bring it inside my bedroom. Unbox. Verify all of the contents are present and check for shipping damages or loose parts. Look for the instructions and receipt. Save the receipt. Follow the instructions.

2. Finish clearing off my desk. Move my Lenovo IdeaPad Y510P and power adapter to my night table and plug it in to the AC wall outlet and second Category 6 Ethernet cable. Verify the battery is charged and I have Internet connectivity. Stay logged into my accounts.

3. Put my ASUS 22" monitor on two telephone books and hook up my Aurum 2.0 meter HDMI 1.4 cable. Adjust it accordingly. Put my ZaReason Zeto desktop PC next to it if it fits. Plug in my Logitech MK120 USB 2.0 keyboard and Proteus Core G 502 USB 2.0 PC gaming mouse. Connect my Oppo Digital HA-1 USB 2.0 cable. Connect my Super Speed USB 3.0 Type B cable, but do not connect my Transcend StoreJet MIL-STD portable encrypted hard disk drive yet. Connect the two 802.11 AC/B/G/N Wi-Fi antennas to the back of the desktop PC. Connect the power and HDMI cables and plug into my dedicated power strip. Flip the switch on for the power supply. Plug in my PNY USB 3.0 16 GB thumb drive containing the latest Ubuntu 14.04.2 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux installation ISO in the USB 3.0 port on the right side of the desktop PC. Turn on my monitor. Turn on my desktop PC. Press and hold the F12 button. Access the UEFI boot manager. Select the PNY thumb drive. Boot into Ubuntu Unity.

4. Install Ubuntu 14.04.2 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux. Enable full-disk encryption and enter my master password twice and double check my master credentials paperwork for accuracy. Enable LVM partitioning. Establish my location, time zone, keyboard, and install the updates automatically along with the restricted non-free software. Establish my Ubuntu Administrator account. Set my PC name. DO NOT ENABLE ENCRYPTION for my home folder. Wait for it to finish. Ubuntu will tell me to eject my installation media and press enter to restart. Restart the PC

5. Enter my master password to unlock the internal Crucial MX200 2.5" SATA-III 6 GB/s 256.00 GB solid state disk. Boot Ubuntu really fast. Log into my Ubuntu Administrator account. Verify Internet connectivity. Open Mozilla Firefox. Install LastPass add-on. Log into my account. Insert my Yubico Yubi Key for two-factor authentication. Open my vault. Log into my Google GMail e-mail account. Unlock my 2012 ASUS Google Nexus 7 tablet. Open Google Authenticator app. Put in my one-time code to log into my Google account. Load my e-mail message that I sent to myself with detailed step by step instructions on how to reinstall my favorite software applications, packages, libraries, and dependencies and to optimize the SSD and tweak Ubuntu for maximum speed. Connect to Private Internet Access VPN using my credentials and check my IP address based upon the VPN gateway server that I am connected to. Choose my favorite Ubuntu mirror site. Update the system. Install all updates. Restart my desktop PC. Enter my master password to unlock the SSD. Boot Ubuntu. Log into my Ubuntu Administrator account. Test and verify my favorite software applications work and start configuring each one and start hardening my desktop operating system. It should take between three to five hours for this phase. Shut down my desktop PC. Wait for the power to turn off. Disconnect all cables from my desktop PC.

6. Shut down and power off my Lenovo IdeaPad Y510P notebook PC. Unplug all cables. Close the lid. Turn it over gently. Remove the lithium ion battery. Get my PC technician toolkit and gently unscrew the 10 screws. Gently remove the bottom cover. Gently unscrew the hard disk drive cage. Gently slide it out. Gently unscrew the mounting screws. Extract my Crucial M550 2.5" 9.5 mm SATA-III 6 GB/s 1.0 TB SSD. Put the hard disk drive cage back in and gently screw it in. Replace the bottom cover gently. Gently screw back in the 10 screws. Turn it right side up. Open the lid. Plug in the power and Categorty 6 Ethernet cable. Leave it turned off.

7. Move my ZaReason Zeto desktop PC to my work area. Put on my anti-static wrist guard. Unscrew and open the side panel. Find the second unused drive bay. Take out the drive caddy. Put in my Crucial M550 SSD and screw it in gently. Firmly attach both the SATA power and data cables. Verify my work. Slide it back into the drive bay. Replace the side panel and screw it back in. Put it on my desk. Plug in the cables exactly the same way. Flip on the power switch to the power supply. Push the power button. Press and hold the F12 button. Access the UEFI boot manager. Boot off the Crucial MX200 SATA-III 6 GB/s 256.00 GB SSD. Enter my master password to unlock the SSD. Boot into Ubuntu. Log into my Ubuntu Administrator account. Open gParted. Carefully select the Crucial M550 1 TB SSD. Quick erase it. Quick format it using the Linux ext4 file system. Exit gParted. Open the Disks application. Quick format it and quick encrypt it using LUKS 1. Label the disk and put in my master password for it. Wait. Unmount it. Mount it again. Enter my master password just for it. Save it to my GNOME keyring.

8. Plug in my Transcend StoreJet MIL-STD portable encrypted hard disk drive. Enter the master password and save it to my GNOME keyring. Open Steam. Restore my five SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games to the Crucial M550 1 TB SSD one at a time. Launch each PC game and set my audio and graphics settings accordingly. Restart each PC game to set the changes into effect.

9. On Saturday, follow my e-mail and reinstall Ubuntu on my Lenovo IdeaPad Y510P notebook PC. Verify my work. Wait for my best friend Robert W. to visit me. Do our business together. Come back home to my apartment. Teach him how to use his Lenovo IdeaPad Y510P notebook PC until he's comfortable. He'll go to use my bathroom and he'll go home.

10. Tomorrow, I'll get my new Logitech G710+ illuminated mechanical USB 2.0 keyboard. It uses two USB 2.0 cables. One is for the keyboard and the other is for the USB 2.0 port located on the keyboard. I'll stay logged into my Ubuntu Administrator account and unplug the Logitech MK120 USB 2.0 keyboard and plug in the Logitech G710+ mechanical keyboard and I'll plug in my Logitech Proteus Core G 502 USB 2.0 PC gaming mouse into the G710+. If it works, then I will be happy. If not, then I will contact Logitech for customer service and technical support. I'm not expecting all of the features and capabilities of the Logitech G710+ to work with GNU/Linux right out of the box, but the basics should be covered. If some of the media function keys and the keys to control illumination work, then I will be very pleased.

I will be home tomorrow all day.

Done.

The reason why I want to two separate internal Crucial solid state disks is due to the fact that I want to install my desktop operating system and favorite software applications on my Crucial MX100 SATA-III 6 GB/s 256.00 GB SSD. This is more than enough for that purpose. The second Crucial M550 SATA-III 6 GB/s 1.0 TB SSD is just for my SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games. I have 537.00 Steam PC games in total of which 244.00 are available for SteamOS + GNU/Linux which is roughly 45% and that's not bad. My Transcend StoreJet MIL-STD portable, rugged, encrypted hard disk drive will store my premium multimedia content and I set the ownership and permissions to be strictly private; USB 3.0 is fast enough for archival multimedia data and 2.0 TB is large enough for a pretty large library. Plus, I can safely eject it and put it inside my Sentry Safe in my bedroom. My Sentry Safe requires two-factor authentication with a master key and combination. I have a Schlage Camelot door lock which requires two-factor authentication with a master key and a 6 digit PIN to unlock and open the door. When the door closes, it automatically locks. I also have another master key for my apartment doors. Just to be safe, I subscribe to CrashPlan+ monthly Family Plan. All of my personal user data is backed up to CrashPlan Central with a custom encryption key and the GNU/Linux desktop client uses a different master password to unlock it.

I don't have a lot of data, but it's really important to me.

By the way, ZaReason cut one day from their normal testing phase and they upgraded me to UPS 3 day air delivery at no additional charge just so I can get my 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC system delivered today. They also installed the hardware in terms of cables, wires, and parts so that I can easily install a 2.5" or 3.5" internal disk drive inside the second drive bay at no additional cost.

Since we are Ubuntu GNU/Linux users, some of us want GNU/Linux to develop, expand, and grow worldwide. As a naturalized US Citizen, I want GNU/Linux to reach more Americans and people in North America, but this is an extremely competitive market. Vote with your wallet. I could have saved a few hundreds of dollars by researching and building my first desktop PC and purchased the PC hardware components and parts from other authorized retailers at decent discounts. However, I wanted to show my financial support for the GNU/Linux community and economy.

I plan to write a formal review by the end of this week.

Welly Wu

June 4th, 2015, 07:40 PM

2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC hardware components:

Crucial MX100 2.5" 7.00 mm SATA-III 6 GB/s 256.00 GB solid state disk (primary OS drive)
Crucial M550 2.5" 7.00 mm (with 2.5 mm bracket) SATA-III 6 GB/s 1.0 TB solid state disk (SteamOS + GNU/Linux drive)
ASUS VS228 22" 1920 X 1080P monitor with HDMI
EVGA Nvidia GTX 970 4GB w/ ACX 2.0 Cooler PN-04G-P4-2972-KR
Gigabyte H97-ITX Wi-Fi motherboard
EVGA 500 watt 80 Plus Gold power supply
Case: EVGA Hadron Air #110-MA-1001-K1
Logitech MK120 USB 2.0 wired keyboard and mouse
Logitech Proteus Core G 502 USB 2.0 wired PC gaming mouse
Logitech G 35 USB 2.0 wired headset
Logitech G710+ USB 2.0 wired illuminated mechanical keyboard
Belkin Category 6 Ethernet cable
Verizon FiOS Quantum Gateway Router with integrated switch and 4 Gigabit Ethernet ports along with 802.11 dual-band AC 2.4 / 5.0 GHz along with B/G/N
Transcend StoreJet USB 3.0 2.0 TB MIL-STD certified portable, rugged, encrypted hard disk drive
2012 ASUS Google Nexus 7 tablet running Android 5.1.1 Lollipop (for now)
LG smart phone
Microsoft XBOX 360 USB 2.0 wired PC controller
Aurum Ultra high speed HDMI 1.4 2.0 meter cables
ASUS USB 3.0 external Blu-Ray-RW / DVD-RW / CD-RW burner drive

I never realized it, but there is a significant amount of EVGA PC hardware components and parts in my 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC. That's cool with me.

Welly Wu

June 4th, 2015, 09:10 PM

My Logitech G710+ illuminated mechanical keyboard just shipped via UPS. It will be delivered to my Nutley, New Jersey apartment tomorrow by 8 PM EST. I got it because it is a premium keyboard that is designed to work with my Proteus Core G 502 PC gaming mouse. I didn't see the match between the Logitech MK120 keyboard and the Proteus Core G 502 mouse working well together. In any event, the Logitech MK120 USB 2.0 wired keyboard and mouse will serve as backup input devices should I need to use them in the future. I will not sell or give them away.

I have less than four hours for UPS to make their delivery this evening.

That's too funny monkeybrain20122. I'm still wired from drinking five large cups of Java Love black coffee overnight. I just drank some Coca Cola soda. Whenever these two packages come, I'll be ready for them.

monkeybrain20122

June 4th, 2015, 09:25 PM

Maybe you should take a walk under the sun, stretch out in the park and play with animals, smell the roses. It is nice out. ;)

Welly Wu

June 4th, 2015, 09:53 PM

I just got my 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC system. I'm unboxing right now. I'll be busy for the next couple of hours, but I'll try to stay connected to the Internet and my accounts.

Welly Wu

June 5th, 2015, 02:58 AM

I'm back up and running for the most part. I successfully reinstalled Ubuntu 14.04.2 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux and I enabled full-disk encryption along with LVM partitioning. I just finished installing most but not all of my favorite GNU/Linux desktop software applications, packages, libraries, and dependencies. I created an e-mail message with step by step instructions on how to reinstall my favorite software and I am not done with it yet. I have to continue my work tomorrow, but most of it is done. On Saturday, I am going to pull my Crucial M550 2.5" 9.5 mm SATA-III 6 GB/s 1.0 TB solid state disk from my Lenovo IdeaPad Y510P notebook PC and I am going to install it in my 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC, quick format and encrypt it, and use it to store and play my large SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC game library. Then, I am going to reinstall Ubuntu 14.04.2 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux and some of Robert W.'s favorite software applications, packages, libraries, and dependencies on his Lenovo IdeaPad Y510P notebook PC. This Sunday, I told him to visit me at my Nutley, New Jersey apartment and we will help each other out. Afterwards, he'll go home with his notebook PC and some accessories and I hope he enjoys it next week.

My 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC, ASUS VS228 22" 1920 X 1080P full HD monitor, and Logitech keyboard and mouse fit on my wooden desk comfortably. Everything is much smaller than I originally thought because I had my own doubts that it would fit on top of my wooden desk, but it does so with room to spare. Now, I have a clean and spacious wooden desk free of clutter.

Everything is going along swimmingly.

I am very happy and satisfied with ZaReason. They are an excellent GNU/Linux proponent and retailer.

I did not get any sleep last night so I plan to go to bed earlier tonight to reset my internal clock. Tomorrow, my Logitech G710+ USB 2.0 wired illuminated mechanical keyboard will be delivered to my apartment via UPS overnight. I have to stay home to sign for my package and I must provide US government photo ID.

My Logitech Proteus Core G 502 USB 2.0 PC gaming mouse just works right out of the box with my 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC and Ubuntu 14.04.2 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux. I'm hoping that some of the Logitech G710+ keyboard will also work right out of the box, but I shall see.

This Logitech MK120 USB 2.0 wired keyboard and mouse are terrible. It's extremely uncomfortable to use and it hurts my hands especially my wrists. I have to replace the keyboard with something better and more ergonomic. It's too noisy. I need a quieter keyboard.

For some unknown reason, I can not successfully log into my Welly Wu Ubuntu Forums account within Google Chrome, but I can do so without problems using Mozilla Firefox.

All of my software packages, libraries, and dependencies are up to date.

Good night.

Welly Wu

June 5th, 2015, 05:52 AM

I successfully extracted and switched my Crucial M550 2.5" 7.00 mm SATA-III 6 GB/s 1.0 TB solid state disk from my Lenovo IdeaPad Y510P notebook PC to my new 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC and it works. I quickly formatted and encrypted it with a secure master password. I am restoring my five SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games onto my Crucial M550 1 TB SSD right now. I plan to play one PC game at a time to adjust the audio and video settings and restart each one to experience it on my new desktop PC. Everything works!

Well, that was certainly much faster than I'm used to. I restored all five SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games in under 10 minutes. I played each one and I'm getting crazy fast speeds for CPU and GPU combined. For example, Sid Meier's Civilization V: Brave New World with all of the DLCs used to take up to four minutes to load my saved PC game and I would only get up to 30.00 frames per second with my Lenovo IdeaPad Y510P notebook PC. With my new 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC, this same PC game loads in under 53.00 seconds flat and I'm getting up to 128.00 frames per second or faster. This is one of my most favorite SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games of all time. It's also a real time waster, but I love it!

Today is early Friday morning. I'm going to wait for my Logitech G710+ illuminated mechanical keyboard and I will reinstall Ubuntu 14.04.2 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux on my Lenovo IdeaPad Y510P with some of my favorite software applications. Once that is done, I'll contact my close friend Robert W. and he'll visit me and we'll do our business and he can go home with a shiny toy.

Welly Wu

June 5th, 2015, 08:57 PM

I just got my new Logitech G710+ USB 2.0 wired illuminated mechanical keyboard. I'm using it right now. It is extremely comfortable and it complements my Logitech Proteus Core G 502 USB 2.0 wired PC gaming mouse perfectly. I like the fact that the G710+ has white illuminated keys that can be set to five levels of brightness. The WASD keys can be set to five levels of brightness independently from the rest of the keyboard. The media control keys work perfectly too. I like the fact that there is a dedicated volume rocker knob and a mute button. The G1 - G6 macro keys require the Logitech software application which is not available for GNU/Linux yet. This is the best keyboard that I have ever used.

I decided to keep my Lenovo IdeaPad Y510P notebook PC because I fixed the screen flickering issue by reinstalling Ubuntu 14.04.2 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux and I added the X-Org Edgers PPA with the latest stable nVidia Geforce 349.16 64 bit graphics drivers. I plan to purchase a Seagate Samsung SpinPoint M9T 2.5" 9.5 mm SATA-III 6 GB/s 2.0 TB 5,400 RPM laptop hard disk drive and I will install it inside my notebook PC and I will quickly format and encrypt it. So, it will have the best of both worlds with a Transcend 2.5" SATA-III 6 GB/s 256.00 GB solid state disk and a Samsung SpinPoint M9T 2.5" SATA-III 6 GB/s 2.0 TB 5,400 RPM hard disk drive. I think that I will wait until next month to place my Amazon order for my new Samsung SpinPoint M9T laptop hard disk drive.

I'm happy and satisfied thus far.

bapoumba

June 5th, 2015, 09:28 PM

Closing for review.

Elfy

June 6th, 2015, 07:11 PM

opened

RichardET

June 7th, 2015, 01:11 AM

So what did you do with your old System76? I recall when that was your flavour of the month.

Welly Wu

June 7th, 2015, 01:21 AM

I gave my System76 notebook PC to my close friend Robert W.

I will be writing my review of my 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC this weekend. I think that I have a good handle on it by now and I am getting myself organized in terms of writing my review.

This is the best desktop PC that I have owned yet.

RichardET

June 7th, 2015, 02:22 AM

I like my W530 with its NVIDIA and 24 GB of RAM.

Welly Wu

June 7th, 2015, 11:37 AM

2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC system review:

I bought my 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC system on May 27th, 2015 at 10:22 PM EST directly from the ZaReason website. I got these following PC hardware components:

Crucial MX100 2.5" 7.00 mm SATA-III 6 GB/s 256.00 GB solid state disk (primary OS drive)
Crucial M550 2.5" 7.00 mm (with 2.5 mm bracket) SATA-III 6 GB/s 1.0 TB solid state disk (SteamOS + GNU/Linux drive)
ASUS VS228 22" 1920 X 1080P monitor with HDMI
EVGA Nvidia GTX 970 4GB w/ ACX 2.0 Cooler PN-04G-P4-2972-KR
Gigabyte H97-ITX Wi-Fi motherboard
EVGA 500 watt 80 Plus Gold power supply
Case: EVGA Hadron Air #110-MA-1001-K1
Logitech MK120 USB 2.0 wired keyboard and mouse
Logitech Proteus Core G 502 USB 2.0 wired PC gaming mouse
Logitech G 35 USB 2.0 wired headset
Logitech G710+ USB 2.0 wired illuminated mechanical keyboard
Belkin Category 6 Ethernet cable
Verizon FiOS Quantum Gateway Router with integrated switch and 4 Gigabit Ethernet ports along with 802.11 dual-band AC 2.4 / 5.0 GHz along with B/G/N
Transcend StoreJet USB 3.0 2.0 TB MIL-STD certified portable, rugged, encrypted hard disk drive
2012 ASUS Google Nexus 7 tablet running Android 5.1.1 Lollipop (for now)
LG smart phone
Microsoft XBOX 360 USB 2.0 wired PC controller
Aurum Ultra high speed HDMI 1.4 2.0 meter cables
ASUS USB 3.0 external Blu-Ray-RW / DVD-RW / CD-RW burner drive

Some of the stuff I already owned, but the ASUS 22" 1920 X 1080P full HD monitor, ZaReason Zeto desktop PC, and Logitech G710+ USB 2.0 illuminated mechanical keyboard were new for me. As you can see for yourself, it is a modern and fairly powerful desktop PC system. The reason why I decided to purchase this product is due to the fact that I have been purchasing notebook PCs since 2008. I have gone through four notebook PCs in the past seven years with each one presenting its' own unique PC hardware issues in less than two years. Suffice it to say, I have been using GNU/Linux since 2009 off and on with a combined five years or so of usage. After I bought my Lenovo IdeaPad Y510P notebook PC which I currently own and using Microsoft Windows 8.1 Professional with Media Center Update 64 bit, I decided to switch to the latest Ubuntu 14.04.2 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux desktop operating system full time. I was interested in the System76 Wild Dog Performance desktop PC system as it is a better value for the money, but the larger desktop PC case and the fact that the nVidia Geforce GTX 970 with 4.0 GB of GDDR5 video RAM GPU was not available at the time were decisive factors that lead me to the ZaReason Zeto desktop PC. I live in a large apartment with a medium sized bedroom and my desk is medium to smallish in size. I was looking for a micro ATX motherboard with a small form factor desktop PC case that would offer me the right balance of size, weight, and performance while still being 100% GNU/Linux certified. I also wanted to support a GNU/Linux certified OEM or ODM hardware manufacturer because this was important for me. Finally, I wanted someone else to build, configure, and test my desktop PC system for me rather than building it myself. In the end, ZaReason was the only provider that offered a product that I was interested in.

My overall impressions are such that this is a high quality product that is a breeze to use daily and it is utterly reliable in every regard. I did reinstall Ubuntu 14.04.2 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux from scratch bare metal because I wanted to enable full-disk encryption and I wanted to reinstall my favorite software applications. The installation process was smooth and trouble free for the most part. Features wise, this is pretty much a second to the current top of the line in terms of individual PC hardware components. My purchase price was $1,983.00 USD and I did not have to pay New Jersey sales tax or shipping fees. I think that it represents a decent value, but it is not necessarily the best value per dollar. My gut feeling is that I paid a premium for my 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC when I could have rolled the dice by purchasing a IBuyPower Revolt or a CyberPowerPC Zeus Mini desktop PC system with Microsoft Windows 8.1 64 bit and I could have tried to reinstall Ubuntu 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux, but I was concerned that I might void the manufacturer's warranty and wind up with problems during the installation process. In terms of performance, my ZaReason Zeto desktop PC system has exceeded my expectations wildly. It is super fast and it has a large amount of high speed and high capacity solid state storage and RAM. Ubuntu 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux just works right out of the box and it a joy to use daily. My Logitech G710+ illuminated mechanical keyboard mostly works except for some of the media keys. The play, pause, stop, skip back, and skip forward buttons don't work. The mute and volume rocker buttons do work. The buttons to control the five levels of white illumination do work. The USB 2.0 port does work and I did plug in my Logitech Proteus Core G 502 USB 2.0 wired PC gaming mouse. Some of the buttons do work and some don't work. The M1 - MR buttons on the keyboard don't work and the programmable macro keys don't work. I knew that these would be issues, but I decided that the Logitech G710+ was still worth purchasing and owning. It is the first mechanical keyboard that I have ever owned and it is extremely comfortable. When playing a few SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games, my 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC is a champ. I can play almost every PC game at very high or usually ultra graphics settings and I still get 60.00 frames per second or much faster when I turn off VSYNC. In terms of daily usage, it is a speed demon and it can chew through complex computational tasks without breaking a sweat. While the internal fans are audible in a quiet room, I usually don't hear them spin up loudly at all even during heavy usage.

If you are looking for a GNU/Linux certified small form factor desktop PC at a reasonable price, then I highly recommend the ZaReason Zeto desktop PC system. The fact that I am supporting another major GNU/Linux company is important to me. The other fact that the latest Ubuntu 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux just works right out of the box is another major win for this company. This is the best desktop PC system that I have owned yet. I will not be returning my product.

Welly Wu

June 9th, 2015, 12:17 AM

Forget that.

I looked at the price to performance ratio between the nVidia Geforce GTX 970 and 980 both with 4.0 GB of GDDR5 video RAM GPUs and I decided that the 980 is a bridge that is too far for me to cross now. I'll have to wait and save up my money to be able to afford it when it is no longer the current generation video card for my ZaReason Zeto desktop PC. It's still an excellent video card, but the price is sky high even for me. Given my PC hardware and software expertise and experience, I think that I chose the best bang for my buck hardware configuration that maximizes the sweet spots in price to performance ratios for CPU, GPU, storage, PSU, and video card. I still love the fact that my ZaReason Zeto desktop PC fits perfectly on my wooden desk along with my monitor, keyboard, mouse, and other products with room to spare.

Here's what I'm talking about specifically:

1. http://gpuboss.com/gpus/GeForce-GTX-980-vs-GeForce-GTX-970

For me to get the EVGA nVidia Geforce GTX 980 4.0 GB GDDR5 GPU, it would cost me $607.99 USD roughly speaking because I contacted ZaReason today and I asked them which one is compatible with my ZaReason Zeto desktop PC. That is a lot of money to spend for a video card even for someone with my financial resources and the performance improvements are only incremental. I would gain on average of an additional 15 - 16 frames per second and I would be more concerned with the fact that I don't have an Intel 4th generation "Haswell" Core i7-4790K "Devil's Canyon" CPU in my desktop PC. The regular Intel Core i7-4790 locked CPU can not overclock. At the end of this year, I will definitely be able to afford a nVidia Geforce GTX 980 4.0 GB GDDR5 GPU, but why? The price to performance ratio is out of whack. I would much rather spend a few hundreds of dollars to buy more SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games during a Steam sale later this year. Currently, I'm satisfied with my EVGA nVidia Geforce GTX 970 4.0 GB GDDR5 GPU. This is a heck of a lot better than my Lenovo IdeaPad Y510P notebook PC with dual nVidia Geforce GT 755M 4.0 GB GDDR5 SLi GPUs by a long shot.

The great thing about the latest Ubuntu 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux desktop operating system is that it perfectly meets and exceeds my personal computing needs. It just works right of the box most of the time. I can spend 99.9% of my time using my PC instead of fixing it. It ain't broke and I ain't fixing it. I like the future direction that Canonical is taking Ubuntu with convergence, Unity desktop environment and window manager, Unity Next, Snappy packages, Click packages, systemd, Mir, and whatever else they come up with in the future. 99.9% of my PC hardware components and software applications just work right out of the box even on my Lenovo IdeaPad Y510P notebook PC with both UEFI and Secure Boot enabled. I get to use both of my PCs for everything and I don't have to worry about anything going wrong unless I make a mistake. Fixing problems is usually quite easy with a simple and specific Google search. Most of the time, I don't even need to do this. I get to enjoy using both of my PCs most of the time and I no longer have any desire to use Apple or Microsoft products and services again which saves me more time and money. All of my SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games work right out of the box and I can get Valve Corporation to step in and help me if I have a problem on a supported platform even though I never had a need for their help or support yet. Every time I read a breaking headline news story about another security breach, I don't have to worry about it affecting me most of the time because I don't use Apple or Microsoft products or services. If a GNU/Linux security breach, vulnerability, or active exploit exists, then I don't panic and run for the hills. I research and I figure out if I am affected and I wait for a patch and I update. Simple.

I'm now a converted GNU/Linux certified mini-ATX small form factor desktop PC enthusiast! This is my secret sauce and my mojo. It's nearly silent most of the time even under heavy loads and it fits perfectly on my wooden desk while remaining ample enough for my keyboard and mouse. I gain performance to dollar to watt efficiency and I hit the sweet spots at a price that fits my budget easily. Every day I use my new 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC system, I fall in love with Ubuntu 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux all over again. This is exactly why I paid a premium for my products. No headaches. No worries. Trouble free easy PC computing on a daily basis. It just works for me perfectly.

Welly Wu

June 11th, 2015, 03:04 AM

ZaReason told me that they use this specific EVGA nVidia Geforce GTX 980 4.0 GB GDDR5 GPU with the 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC:

1. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RK4SX94/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=33SZNNRF4PRO5&coliid=I1RBYIXEK26B6O

It's quite expensive. In fact, it's a bit more expensive than the other nVidia Geforce GTX 980 4.0 GB GDDR5 GPUs on the market, but it is designed to fit and work with the EVGA micro-ATX motherboard and EVGA Hadron Air small form factor desktop PC case. It looks interesting to me and I'll consider it, but I will have to wait until the end of this year before I can seriously consider it. I got instructions from ZaReason on how to replace my EVGA nVidia Geforce GTX 970 4.0 GB GDDR5 GPU with the 980 4.0 GB GDDR5 GPU. It's pretty simple, but I have to be careful because it's a small form factor desktop PC case and I have to be gentle when unplugging the current video card with the new one as there is a latch that locks into place and it must be gently unlocked before removal and replacement.

However, it may be in my own best interests to continue to wait another generation or two in the future for a newer nVidia Geforce GTX GPU that is still compatible with my 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC and the PCI-Express 16x slot within the constraints of my EVGA 500 watt Gold Plus PSU as well. I am hoping that PCI-E 16x technology will remain a popular standard choice for discrete GPUs for the next two generations and nVidia along with a dozen or more manufacturers will continue to produce newer GPUs that are compatible with this current technology. If that is the case in the next year or two, then it might be best to wait, save up my money, and then purchase the newer nVidia GPU and install it in my 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC. This is probably what I am going to do short of purchasing a newer Ubuntu 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux certified micro-ATX small form factor desktop PC.

I am becoming a more hardcore SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC gamer and I played Bioshock Infinite at Ultra graphics settings and I consistently get 130 - 135 frames per second. Sid Meier's Civilization V: Brave New World + all of my DLCs is set to high graphics settings and I consistently get 160 - 170 frames per second. This is with VSYNC turned off of course. Otherwise, I get a consistent 60 frames per second with VSYNC turned on. My Lenovo IdeaPad Y510P barely reached 30 frames per second at very high graphics settings for Bioshock Infinite and it usually gets between 45 - 55 frames per second with Civilization V at high graphics settings with VSYNC turned off.

Welly Wu

June 19th, 2015, 09:13 PM

For some unknown reason, my ZaReason Zeto is not downloading and installing the latest Linux kernel version which is currently 3.16-41 generic AMD64. My Lenovo IdeaPad Y510P notebook PC has it installed, but my desktop PC does not. I sent an e-mail message to ZaReason and they are looking into this matter and they said that forcing the upgrade to the latest stable Linux kernel version is pretty easy and it won't harm my desktop PC. I just got off the telephone with one of their support technicians on this matter. Otherwise, this is a fantastic GNU/Linux certified desktop PC. It meets most of my criteria and it checks off most of my boxes at a price that I can afford. I just realized how modern and powerful both of my PCs really are by looking at some of the PCs that other Ubuntu members currently own or use in comparison. I feel lucky to even own two PCs. I did not think that I would own a desktop PC ever again because it's clear to me that notebook PCs are the future of personal computing, but I am glad that I bought my ZaReason Zeto desktop PC system after all. It was definitely well worth the premium that I paid for it and then some. Using it daily is a true joy. It makes Ubuntu interesting and fun to use daily. Most of my SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games fly on my ZaReason Zeto desktop PC system. The level of customer service is excellent too. ZaReason is always there if I have a question and they have answers. I called about UEFI and Secure Boot and they told me that both are supported, but they were designed for Microsoft Windows 8 and 8.1 64 bit. They disabled UEFI and Secure Boot by default to make it easier to install Ubuntu in the first place, but I can turn both on without too much of a problem, but I have to watch out for Secure Boot because it might cause problems when trying to boot Ubuntu. I think that I will leave both of them turned off for now. Ubuntu is really wickedly fast! My desktop PC boots in under five seconds most of the time and launching big AAA SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games usually takes well under one minute. My Crucial M550 1 TB SSD holds 74 - 75 SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games right now with several hundreds of gigabytes of available disk space left over and it is faster than my Crucial MX100 256.00 GB solid state disk. This gives me all the more reason to stay at home and enjoy using my desktop PC.

My Logitech G710+ is a great mechanical keyboard. The white illuminated keys make it easy to use in low light or complete darkness at night and I like the solid and tactile feedback that I get when using it. Mechanical keyboards are awesome for touch typists like myself. It is the most comfortable keyboard that I have ever used yet. I really do like Logitech branded products because they are mostly compatible with GNU/Linux.

This has been a great user experience for me thus far. Not too many people mention ZaReason on Ubuntu Forums, but I do highly recommend them. I've tried both System76 and ZaReason and both are equally good, but System76 provides more value per US Dollar in terms of PC hardware components and they deliver more bang for my buck. However, ZaReason has more interesting products currently available that fit a wider variety of specific customer's needs. I think that ZaReason provides a reasonable value and the level of customer service and technical support are superior to System76. In my past experience, System76 gets overwhelmed with too many specific customer support tickets and they just give up or ignore me. ZaReason has better technical support and they have answers to more pressing questions or concerns. It seems that they are more of the GNU/Linux experts in my experience having dealt with both companies in the past.

ZaReason replied to my support ticket:

sudo apt-get install linux-generic-lts-utopic followed by sudo apt-get dist-upgrade. That did the trick. Now, I'm running Linux kernel 3.16-0-41 generic AMD64 just like my Lenovo IdeaPad Y510P notebook PC. Solved!

youroldpalmark

June 20th, 2015, 02:08 AM

I bought a Zareason desktop pc about three years ago and just love it. I've now handed it down to my son, as I just got a new machine from System76. My old Zareason had a traditional bios, while the new System76 sports all that crazy UEFI jazz. Maybe I'm naive, but I was shocked that the new type of bios was used on a Linux-specific machine. What did yours come with?

monkeybrain20122

June 20th, 2015, 03:14 AM

Welly Wu

June 20th, 2015, 05:21 AM

ZaReason told me over the telephone today that I can safely enable UEFI, but I should leave Secure Boot turned off. By default, both UEFI and Secure Boot are disabled with my Zeto. While I know how to install the software package to enable EFI boot capability with Ubuntu 14.04.2 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux, I just don't see a need to mess with what already works right out of the box just to test specific features that were not designed to be GNU/Linux friendly in the first place. ZaReason told me that UEFI and especially Secure Boot were designed for Microsoft Windows 8 and 8.1 64 bit. This is a ZaReason specific thread of mine. I am not going to derail or decry the fouls of UEFI and Secure Boot within the Ubuntu Forums community in my own thread and I hope others will have learned that the administrators and moderators close those types of discussions quickly.

My next problem with this Zeto is that libgbm1 is missing a software dependency:

I keep getting this broken dependency error:

Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Calculating upgrade... Done
The following packages have been kept back:
libgbm1
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 1 not upgraded.
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Calculating upgrade... Done
The following packages have been kept back:
libgbm1
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 1 not upgraded.
wellywu@ZaReasonZeto:~$ sudo apt-get install libgbm1
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
libgbm1 : Depends: libgl1-mesa-dri (= 10.6.0~git20150616+10.6.5d327b37-0ubuntu0ricotz~trusty)
E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.
wellywu@ZaReasonZeto:~$

I took it up with ZaReason and they will get back to me on Monday. I'm not asking for technical support here; I am reporting on the efficacy and the speed with which ZaReason responds to my technical support requests to demonstrate their commitment to the GNU/Linux ecosystem and community at large. Like System76, they are passionate advocates especially of Ubuntu in particular. When they investigate and find a solution, then I and ZaReason will work together to find the right solutions. This is the last speed bump left. After I fix this software dependency issue, my next goal is to look forward to Ubuntu 14.04.3 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux.

I should also be clear: these software related problems are in no way the fault of ZaReason. Remember, I chose to reinstall Ubuntu 14.04.2 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux bare metal on my new 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC. The fault lies with me or rather Canonical for the significant changes in software packages, libraries, and dependencies with regard to the installation or upgrade to the latest current hardware enablement stack. This is not just another upgrade for the Linux kernel itself; rather, it involves significant changes to the X.Org server and client as well which broke compatibility especially with regard to some third party GNU/Linux software applications that I purchased, installed, and used.

This is also why I am a big proponent of switching from the decade old Debian system to incorporate both the Click and Snappy Personal package mangement system. It's a more modern, cleaner, and transactionally based package management system that increases reliability, robustness, stability, and security. Debian is still a strong foundation for Ubuntu, but it's time that Canonical makes a decisive break away from the apt package management system because it seems to me that more time, money, energy, and effort is wasted on the old Debian package system that presents the same old challenges to building, developing, and shipping more modern Ubuntu features and capabilities in the foreseeable future. Ubuntu 14.04.2 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux and the new hardware enablement stack caused a significant amount of headaches for our community as a whole and I regard it as the fulcrum or tipping point for Canonical to marshal its team and resources to work on replacing it.

Otherwise, I can not fault ZaReason. They did everything right short of taking over Canonical's leadership and vision.

mastablasta

June 20th, 2015, 10:54 AM

Maybe I'm naive, but I was shocked that the new type of bios was used on a Linux-specific machine.

you will then be even more shocked when you read this quote from wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Extensible_Firmware_Interface); i made the relevant text bold:

The Linux kernel (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_kernel) has been able to use EFI at boot time since early 2000,[68] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Extensible_Firmware_Interface#cite_note-70) using the elilo (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elilo) EFI boot loader or, more recently, EFI versions of GRUB (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_GRUB).[69] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Extensible_Firmware_Interface#cite_note-debiangrubexample-71) Grub+Linux also supports booting from a GUID partition table without UEFI.[13] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Extensible_Firmware_Interface#cite_note-grub-bios-installation-14) The distribution Ubuntu (http://javascript<strong></strong>:void(0)) added support for UEFI secure boot as of version 12.10.[70] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Extensible_Firmware_Interface#cite_note-h-ubuntusecureboot-72) Further, the Linux kernel can be compiled with the option to run as an EFI bootloader on its own through the EFI bootstub feature.

by comparison:

The Itanium (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itanium) versions of Windows 2000 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_2000) (Advanced Server Limited Edition and Datacenter Server Limited Edition) implemented EFI 1.10 in 2002. MS Windows Server 2003 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Server_2003) for IA-64 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IA-64), MS Windows XP 64-bit Edition (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_XP_64-bit_Edition) and Windows 2000 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_2000) Advanced Server Limited Edition, all of which are for the Intel Itanium (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itanium) family of processors, implement EFI, a requirement of the platform through the DIG64 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIG64) specification

Mac could do it in 2005 it seems. HP-UX (unix?!) in 2002 and FreeBSD in 2014

so two things to learn:
- UEFI is not a super new state of the art technology
- linux was among the first if not the first that could actually use it.

Welly Wu

June 20th, 2015, 11:05 AM

Turning off both UEFI and Secure Boot in particular has no hazards for the GNU/Linux user. ZaReason chose to disable both so I will keep them off permanently. One thing that I noticed with regard to Secure Boot on my Lenovo IdeaPad Y510P notebook PC is that it affects both the updating of the latest stable Linux kernel version and the proprietary nVidia graphics device drivers. Whenever I update the Linux kernel and I restart my notebook PC, I always get a Ubuntu error message stating that it has booted into low graphics mode. I have to turn off my notebook PC and restart again to get Ubuntu to boot normally. It's a minor inconvenience, but I'm willing to live with it for now. I may choose to turn off UEFI and Secure Boot to test if Ubuntu will still boot on my notebook PC this weekend. If it succeeds, then I will turn both off on all of my PCs permanently. Another thing that I noticed is that UEFI and Secure Boot seem to affect my ability to upgrade to the latest Ubuntu 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux version especially with regard to the installation of a new hardware enablement stack. Turning on UEFI and Secure Boot after properly installing a new hardware enablement stack seems to result in a bricked notebook PC. These are just my personal observations on a single notebook PC and they are not applicable to others.

If you can safely turn off UEFI and Secure Boot prior to installing Ubuntu 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux bare metal, then do so. It will probably save you time and hassles in the future.

Finally, I noticed that my ZaReason Zeto desktop PC does not recognize my dual internal solid state disks with UEFI and especially Secure Boot enabled at the same time. Consequently, I was not able to install Ubuntu 14.04.2 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux bare metal on my desktop PC because Ubuntu did not recognize any internal disk drives and I could only boot off of my PNY USB 3.0 16 GB thumb drive with no target installation disk found. When I contacted ZaReason by telephone yesterday, they confirmed that this is a known issue and the only workaround is to disable UEFI and Secure Boot to proceed with the Ubuntu installation bare metal. Thus, this is why they told me that UEFI and Secure Boot are not truly GNU/Linux friendly and they were designed for Microsoft Windows 8 or 8.1 64 bit in the first place.

I'm lucky that I can still use my ZaReason Zeto. I played around with the UEFI, Secure Boot, and Legacy BIOS options and I found out that the way in which I previously installed Ubuntu makes a big difference. On my Lenovo IdeaPad Y510P notebook PC, I enabled both UEFI and Secure Boot and I tried to disable one or both, but Ubuntu would not boot. I tried to enable UEFI and or Secure Boot on my ZaReason Zeto and Ubuntu wouldn't boot as well. Then, I put it back in order for each PC and Ubuntu booted normally. I must have wasted twenty minutes of time playing around with these critical features and I got nowhere and I almost panicked. Now, everything is back in order and working again. Lessons learned. Ubuntu is particular about the UEFI, Secure Boot, and Legacy BIOS options selected prior to the bare metal installation. Changing those features around after an installation is complete is playing with fire.

Welly Wu

July 8th, 2015, 11:50 PM

I'm 38 years old today. I grew up in the early 1980s with a desktop PC and I've come around full circle. I'm a PC guy first, but I choose not to use Microsoft Windows. Owning a high end desktop and notebook PC make the most sense to me. For mobile devices, I have a LG smart phone and a 2012 ASUS Google Nexus 7 tablet. I rarely use either of them because I am home most of the time. When I am at home, I use my ZaReason Zeto desktop PC most of the time. I just keep my mobile and portable devices up to date with the latest software updates when I am at home connected to my Verizon FiOS Quantum Internet network. People always say that nobody buys a desktop PC anymore. Well, I bought one not too long ago. Desktop PCs still have their place and value in this world especially here in the United States of America. The key to getting a great SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC gaming experience is to get a modern and powerful Ubuntu 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux desktop PC system. Desktop PCs feature desktop grade CPUs and GPUs and storage that trounces notebook PCs by a long shot. They cost roughly the same as notebook PCs and I daresay that high end gaming notebook PCs are more expensive yet they offer far less PC performance especially GPU performance per dollar for each watt of power. Desktop PCs are great for building a complete multimedia content viewing or creation workstation. They are great for PC gaming at ultra graphics settings at 60.00 fps or faster. Desktops typically last longer than notebook PCs which are disposable commodities. A notebook PC will show its' age not so gracefully in a few short years. Desktop PCs can be upgraded over time part for part. The ergonomics favor desktop PCs. Using a notebook PC on a table or desk or on your lap means that you're hunching over to see the small screen and use the keyboard and mouse. Desktop PCs are easier on my body because I can practice good posture and I am fully relaxed at my desk for long hours comfortably.

Welly Wu

August 9th, 2015, 04:34 AM

1. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LEF28CI/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=33SZNNRF4PRO5&coliid=I2OA2GMNJH8D9P&psc=1

2. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C7T78H0/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=33SZNNRF4PRO5&coliid=I3JX7TXG9A4VKP&psc=1

I am thinking and saving up my money to purchase a new Western Digital My Book Duo Super Speed USB 3.0 RAID-0/1 12.00 TB external hard disk drive for my ZaReason Zeto desktop PC system by the end of this year. I checked the Amazon published reviews from different owners and a few have confirmed that this product is 99.9% compatible with modern GNU/Linux distributions and it should just work like a normal external hard disk drive. The default configuration is RAID-0 which is data striping mode which will yield up to 12.00 TB of available disk capacity and it will perform up to 290.00 MB/s in this mode for the 4 - 12 TB product models as advertised.

The reason why I am seriously considering to purchase this product is due to the fact that my personal data storage needs are growing quickly. I pay for most of my hardware, software, premium content, and subscriptions and I regularly download tons of paid premium content daily. I have Verizon FiOS Quantum 100/100 MB/s symmetrical Internet at my Nutley, New Jersey apartment. I plan to upgrade it to 150/150 MB/s symmetrical by the end of this year for a modest increase in my monthly subscription price. This weekend, I added 41.2% more new data and I own a few hundreds of gigabytes of private user data. Since this is an external desktop hard disk drive, I will be able to connect it to my ZaReason Zeto desktop PC system and use it right away. Of course, I plan to use the Ubuntu Disks tool to quick format and encrypt it using LUKS and AES 256 bits XTS SHA-1 and I will use LastPass Premium to generate a pseudo-random 100.00 character password which I will backup within my vault as a new secure note. I also use LastPass Pocket to backup my vault to an encrypted .XML file and I put it inside a Veracrypt encrypted file container within a hidden volume and I created a 1.0 MB key file for strong two-factor authentication. I backup this file to both of my PCs, my Western Digital My Cloud Personal Cloud 4.0 TB NAS drive, and CrashPlan+ daily. I also print two hard copies of a specific LastPass secure note that contains all of the user IDs and passphrases for my critical local and online accounts and I put them inside my Sentry Safe inside my bedroom which is protected by a Schlage Camelot door lock and my PNC Bank safety deposit box at my local bank branch which is located less than half a mile away from my apartment. I also have a cross-cut shredder to destroy old hardcopies of old documents.

I was wondering if anyone here owns this product or a similar one to it. If so, then what do you think? What are your personal experiences with such a product? Do you have any tips or suggestions? Thank you.

Welly Wu

August 19th, 2015, 06:19 AM

1. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011LVAVEQ?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

2. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00APP6694?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

3. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C7RXR72?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

I placed my Amazon order for these three products including the Plugable USB 3.0 SATA-III 6 GB/s 8.0+ TB hard drive enclosure, Cable Matters USB 3.0 Type A -> Type B desktop cable, and the new Western Digital Black 3.5" SATA-III 6 GB/s 6.0 TB 7,200 RPM 128 MB cache desktop mechanical hard disk drive. They should be delivered later this week. I am an Amazon Prime and Kindle Unlimited subscriber and I paid extra on top of that for expedited shipping. Basically, I want to have an external desktop hard disk drive connected to my ZaReason Zeto desktop PC so that I can have an enormous amount of available disk capacity and high speed storage albeit at a high price tag. I think it will be worth it. I plan to move my private media library to my new Western Digital Black desktop hard disk drive and I will continue to purchase, download, and save new premium content to it in the foreseeable future.

4. http://www.back2gaming.com/reviews/b2g-hardware/storage-reviews/wd-black-6tb-wd6001fzwx-review/

This is the earliest published review of the new Western Digital Black 6 TB desktop hard disk drive product. As you can see for yourself, it gets a burst sequential transfer speed of up to 240.00 MB/s and a sustained sequential data transfer speed of a little over 202.00 MB/s. Western Digital claims it is up to 29% faster than the 4.0 TB model.

Welly Wu

August 21st, 2015, 04:39 PM

I just got my Amazon packages and products earlier today. Everything just works. I used Ubuntu's Disk program to quick format and encrypt my Western Digital Black desktop hard disk drive and I saved the passphrase in my GNOME keyring. I transferred my private user data to it and it was kind of slow because my Transcend StoreJet usually gets roughly 70 MB/s transfer speed because it is a portable hard disk drive. Once I told Shotwell, DigiKam, and JRiver Media Center 21 to look for my media library on the WD Black, everything got much faster. I benchmarked the read speed and I usually get roughly 234 MB/s. I unmounted it and the write speed is usually 231 MB/s. It's much faster than the old Western Digital Velociraptor 1 TB desktop hard disk drive. That product is quite expensive because it offers up to 1 TB and it is well over $200 USD. So, I have roughly 250 GB of private user data on my WD Black which means I have 5.75 TB of available disk space. I never had so much available disk space and I never owned a Western Digital Black desktop hard disk drive so this is all new for me. It is amazingly fast for a conventional mechanical desktop hard disk drive. I did confirm that my Plugable USB 3.0 with UASP disk enclosure is supported in Ubuntu 14.04.3 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux. So, I can get up to 640 MB/s transfer speed with USB 3.0 with UASP, but I have to get a top of the line 2.5" SATA-III 6 GB/s solid state disk and even then it won't saturate the maximum speed. These are good products and the WD Black comes with a five year limited warranty. I am happy with my products thus far. I can continue to purchase, download, and save more premium media content to grow my media library for the foreseeable future and the performance is peerless.

Welly Wu

August 24th, 2015, 10:09 AM

I got a new Logitech HD Pro c 920 digital web camera and a Hewlett Packard OfficeJet 4630 for my 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC a little while ago. Both just work right out of the box. I finished transferring my private user data to my Western Digital Black desktop hard disk drive and now CrashPlan+ is backing it up to CrashPlan Central. I use it to store my media library and to install and run guest virtual machines using VMWare Workstation 11.1.0 64 bit. It is fast enough to run guest virtual machines and I notice very little difference between a solid state disk and the WD Black in daily usage. I plan to keep my Crucial M550 1 TB SSD to download, install, and play SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games. I fit roughly 311.00 SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games on it which is not my entire Steam PC game library. I use the Logitech HD Pro c 920 for Microsoft Skype video calls. I pay for Microsoft Skype Unlimited World and Skype Number along with call forwarding service each month among other subscriptions. My WD Black is extremely fast for a desktop hard disk drive. I am thinking about installing my SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games on it, but right now I'm undecided. SSDs are still much faster than mechanical hard disk drives by several orders of magnitude. I don't want to sit and wait during game loading screens for too long.

Overall, my 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC is performing well. It is my little workhorse desktop PC system. I have not had any major problems with it that weren't my own fault with Ubuntu 14.04.x 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux. It's extremely fast and nearly silent most of the time. The Plugable disk drive enclosure and WD Black were big upgrades in speed and storage capacity. I'm set for the next several years ahead.

Welly Wu

August 24th, 2015, 05:14 PM

Ubuntu's Disk program uses a 10.00 MB sample size and my new August 2015 Western Digital Black 3.5" SATA-III 6 GB/s 6.0 TB 7,200 RPM 128 MB cache desktop hard disk drive gets these results:

Sample size: 10.00 MB
Average read speed: 183.50 MB/s
Average write speed: 150.00 MB/s
Average seek time: 12.13 ms

Crucial M550 SATA-III 6 GB/s 1.0 TB solid state disk:
Sample size: 10.00 MB
Average read speed: 536.6 MB/s
Average write speed: 356.4 MB/s
Average seek time: 0.11 ms

These results are incredible!

Mind you, I enabled full-disk encryption using either dm-crypt or LUKS, but not ecryptfs. My Intel 4th Generation "Haswell" Core i7-4790 CPU supports AES-NI which provides hardware accelerated AES encryption and decryption. So, your mileage may vary without full-disk encryption.

Welly Wu

August 24th, 2015, 11:18 PM

My new Western Digital Black feels like a solid state disk the more that I use it. It's truly a remarkable achievement for conventional mechanical desktop hard disk drive technology in August 2015. It is so wickedly fast for a hard disk drive that sometimes I would have to conduct my own pseudo double blind test to tell the difference between my WD Black and Crucial M550. When running guest virtual machines, the difference in performance boils down to less than three seconds. I installed a SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC game which is Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel on both disk drives and I timed the differences and the WD Black comes up a hair slower. It is designed for hardcore PC gamers and creative content makers along with IT professionals. Running Borderlands off of my WD Black is fluid, dynamic, fun, and engaging. It's almost like a high performance solid state disk except I can store up to 6.0 TB of data on it. I might just delete all 311.00 of my SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games off of my Crucial M550 1 TB SSD and redownload and reinstall even more on my new WD Black. There is virtually no difference between the two products except capacity and price. I wish I had a WD Velociraptor on hand. I might just buy a 1.0 TB WD Velociraptor in the near future just to test it against my WD Black. I think that I can afford it if I put my mind to it. This is the beauty of my Plugable USB 3.0 with UASP disk enclosure. I have virtually unlimited disk storage capacity up to 8.0+ TB and I can easily unmount, safely remove, install, and mount a different disk drive on demand. I have a Sentry Safe where I put my Transcend StoreJet portable, rugged, encrypted hard disk drive so I have plenty of room to fit a couple encrypted desktop hard disk drives safely and securely inside my locked bedroom in the foreseeable future. That WD Velociraptor is looking mighty interesting to me right now, but I doubt it can outperform my new WD Black on price, performance, and capacity along with value.

mikodo

August 24th, 2015, 11:39 PM

Well then, Welly Wu. That post is interesting, as usual.

I just put in a new WD Black platter in my aging Quad-Core Intel machine this week. Wait, it was Friday, (last week now). It flies. I thought it was the new Xubuntu install, without the accumulated cruft I stick in each install. Then again, come to think of it, the last install was less than a month old, and I couldn't have had that much slowness with it, given my meager needs for applications and usage of pretty much only the Ubuntu repos free software and I have to keep in mind, this is linux and not an OS that has a registry that needs defragging.

Thanks.

Welly Wu

August 25th, 2015, 12:11 AM

I paid less than $297.00 USD for my new August 2015 Western Digital Black desktop hard disk drive. When price is a very important consideration that trumps features, capabilities, and pure performance, desktop and laptop hard disk drives are a good alternative choice to give serious consideration especially for mass data storage needs. Remember, I only got this product not too long ago. I don't use it as my operating system drive though I now realize that it can perfectly fit that role and do it quite well. I use it as a data drive. For example, I imported roughly 2,775 digital photographs in less than twenty seconds using my Crucial M550 1 TB SSD using DigiKam. My WD Black imported the exact same number of digital photographs in less than twenty three seconds. As another example, I imported nearly 100.00 GB of videos using JRiver Media Center 21 in less than one minute using my Crucial M550 1 TB SSD. My WD Black imported the exact same number of videos in one minute and five seconds. Yet, my Crucial M550 1 TB SSD cost me $494.00 USD in November 2014. Today, I can buy a new Transcend Information SATA-III 6 GB/s 1.0 TB SSD for less than $360.00 USD. Both offer up to 1.0 TB of data storage capacity. My WD Black offers up to 6.0 TB of data capacity for a significantly lower price with virtually indistinguishable differences in speed and performance. My Plugable disk enclosure, WD Black, and Cable Matters USB 3.0 products just work right out of the box with my 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC and Ubuntu 14.04.3 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux with no need for me to do anything special. Just open Ubuntu Disk, quick format and encrypt it, and save the passphrase within my GNOME keyring once forever and that's it. I'm starting to think that solid state disks are way overrated and overpriced now. Six terabytes is a lot of private user data in 2015. Fixstars sells a 2.5" SATA-III 6 GB/s 6.0 TB solid state disk for over $1,800.00 USD. Samsung is going to release a 3D VNAND SATA-III 6 GB/s 16.00 TB solid state disk for $5,000.00 USD. I could buy a new top of the line desktop PC system with that kind of money. But why?

Geoffrey_Arndt

August 25th, 2015, 06:08 AM

Welly, I enjoy your posts - very informative. But please use paragraphs and add white space so more people will actually read the posts.

Thanks.

(hope you're open to constructive advice).

Bucky Ball

August 25th, 2015, 06:52 AM

Welly, I enjoy your posts - very informative. But please use paragraphs and add white space so more people will actually read the posts.

You can try but Welly Wu, despite being asked a few times, has taken no notice in the past and insists on posting black blobs of text which most people will ignore and then move on. Sorry WW, but that's the truth. <shrugs> :)

RichardET

August 25th, 2015, 01:38 PM

Welly Wu

August 25th, 2015, 01:52 PM

This is a good question. I am permanently disabled and I am in early retirement. I developed a serious psychiatric medical diagnosis several years ago in my early thirties and it has been a long struggle for me to find the right medical team to get professional medical care. This is the reason why I got banned from Ubuntu Forums among other online discussion forums in the past some time ago. Today, I am much better off and I continue to get help and support from family, relatives, and close friends. So, this sheds some light about me and it explains my background a bit more clearly. Elfy is aware of the details, but he or she will keep it private.

I have the free time and the financial resources to enjoy my retired lifestyle so this is how I spend my time and money. I do have close friends that I stay in touch with on a daily and weekly basis and they help to ground me. I enjoy PCs quite a bit as this is a passionate hobby of mine and I obviously have a taste for the high end stuff. I also like FLOSS technologies especially the latest Ubuntu 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux, but I enjoy purchasing and using closed source and proprietary software products quite a bit too.

I still need to mind the rules here and stay in good standing. Once in a rare blue moon, I do encounter a highly localized technical issue and this place is the only forum to get free help and technical support. Otherwise, this is an online watercooler for me. When I am not posting here, I usually have long conversations about technology with my close friends and I have turned one of them into a fellow Ubuntu user. She seems to get by using Ubuntu with no need for my expertise technical support beyond a short five minute tutorial on how to use Ubuntu Unity. So, I have done my part to spread awareness of Ubuntu in my community and I continue to make new friends and turn them to Ubuntu when their Microsoft Windows PCs give them too many problems.

I hope this explains me a bit more clearly without divulging private medical information unnecessarily. Whether you or someone else chooses to read my threads and posts is up to each individual. I stopped picking fights with people in this community and I do not visit any other IRC channels or discussion forums. Having one account here is enough for me.

RichardET

August 25th, 2015, 02:49 PM

Welly Wu

August 25th, 2015, 03:26 PM

OpenSuSE 64 bit is still a professional GNU/Linux distribution that is community driven and well supported. I am thinking about converting OpenSuSE 13.2 64 bit to Tumbleweed 64 bit, but I tried it and it broke the guest virtual machine. I need to do more research about how to proceed, but the warnings are pretty clear for people like me that use the proprietary nVidia graphics driver with Tumbleweed. Don't combine the two together on a production system.

My 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC is remarkable. Everything that I throw at it just works right out of the box and choosing to stick with the latest Ubuntu 14.04.3 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux distribution is a solid choice. The sheer amount of power and performance are incredible. I can install and run multiple guest virtual machines, play a few SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games, open multiple multimedia heavy tabs within Google Chrome, listen to music using Spotify Premium Family, read digital magazines using Magzter, read electronic books using Amazon Kindle Unlimited, go on the official Ubuntu IRC channel, use Empathy to do real time online chatting with friends, engage in social media, check my financial accounts to get updates, and manage top secret private user data securely at the same time daily.

These are my monthly subscriptions:

CrashPlan+ monthly Family Plan
Spotify Premium Family Plan
Netflix Streaming Family Plan
Hulu & Showtime
LastPass Premium Credit Monitoring
Microsoft Skype Unlimited World & Skype Number
Magzster Gold
Amazon Kindle Unlimited
Microsoft Office 365 Home
HBO Now
The New York Times Premier
Lifelock Ultimate Plus
Zinio digital magazine subscriptions

These are my annual subscriptions:

LastPass Premium
Codeweavers CrossOver for Mac and Linux
Private Internet Access VPN (I have two 12 month subscriptions)
JRiver Media Center
Amazon Prime

These are my paid software products:
Intuit Quicken Home & Business 2015
Codeweavers CrossOver for Mac and Linux
Western Digital My Cloud Personal Cloud 4.0 TB NAS drive
InSync Plus
VMWare Workstation 11.x 64 bit
Adobe Photoshop CS 2 version 9.x
Lightworks Professional
JRiver Media Center 21.x 64 bit
Fluendo Complete Multimedia Pack & DVD Player
Stormcloud
Drawers
Softmaker Office 2012 for GNU/Linux plus Softmaker Fonts (including MegaFonts XXL 2.0 and infiniType 3)
Zinio Reader 4 desktop app

My ZaReason Zeto desktop PC allows me to get the legal right to access all of these paid premium software products and subscription services without a hitch. I pay for most of my hardware, software, premium content, and subscriptions. For example, I have 608.00 Steam PC games in my library of which 311.00 are available for SteamOS + GNU/Linux. I paid for almost all of them. I also have Star Wars Galaxies: Starter Kit using the SWG EMU and it just works using Codeweavers CrossOver for Ubuntu 64 bit GNU/Linux. Now I know why some people prefer desktop PCs rather than notebook PCs. Power. Performance. Industry standard PC components. Customization and flexibility. Easy parts upgrades over time. Long term reliability. Value.

These are my current hardware products:

Sentry Safe
2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC with Crucial MX100 SATA-III 6 GB/s 256.00 GB SSD and Crucial M550 SATA-III 6 GB/s 1.0 TB SSD, 16.00 GB DDR3 1,600 MHz RAM, nVidia Geforce GTX 970 4.0 GB GDDR5 GPU, 802.11 dual band AC WiFi with Bluetooth 4.0, Aurum HDMI 1.4a cables
ASUS VS228 22" 1920 X 1080P monitor
Logitech G710+ illuminated mechanical keyboard
Logitech G35 wired headset
Logitech G 502 Proteus Core wired gaming mouse
Logitech G 440 hard gaming mouse pad
Logitech HD Pro C 920 digital web camera
Plugable USB 3.0 with UASP disk enclosure with Cable Matters 6' USB 3.0 desktop cable
Western Digital Black SATA-III 6 GB/s 6.0 TB 7,200 RPM 128 MB cache desktop hard disk drive
Transcend StoreJet USB 3.0 2.0 TB MIL-STD portable hard drive
Energizer Energi to Go XP18000 lithium polymer battery charger
Amazon Kindle 3G + WiFi e-book reader
2012 ASUS Google Nexus 7 tablet
Verizon FiOS Quantum Gateway Router with 100/100 MB/s symmetrical Internet access
LG smartphone
Oppo Digital HA-1 DAC and headphone amplifier
CEntrance HiFi-M8 LX XL4 portable DAC and headphone amplifier
Sennheiser HD-800 with CH 800 S four pin XLR balanced headphone cable
Shure SE-846 CL quad driver earphones
Grado SR-60i headphones
Hewlett Packard OfficeJet 4630 all-in-one multifunction machine
Coby 19" LCD HDTV
Pacsafe Luggage Metrosafe 200 GII shoulder bag
FUL backpack

My desktop PC and accessories cost me $4,030.18 USD while my high fidelity audio system cost me $4,879.91 USD.

I regularly purchase HD Tracks high resolution lossless music albums and I save them to my WD Black desktop hard disk drive. My ZaReason Zeto desktop PC just works with both my Oppo Digital HA-1 and CEntrance HiFi-M8 LX XL4 products. I also purchase SACD DSD-64/128/256 high fidelity lossless music albums as well. JRiver Media Center 21 64 bit handles both audio formats as well as digital photographs, films, videos, and TV shows. I have a couple of dozens of high resolution lossless music albums in my private media library as well as a couple dozen films, videos, and TV shows. Everything just works with my ZaReason Zeto desktop PC system.

I am an extremely lucky guy and I know it. I am thankful for my parents, relatives, and close friends. I plan to have a pizza party with my friends at his apartment downstairs later this afternoon.

Bucky Ball

August 25th, 2015, 04:31 PM

All good, WW. :) and you are not alone here as far as mental illness goes. Nothing meant by my post, it was in good humour. Water cool and post away.

BTW, Elfy is no longer a member of staff here and hasn't been for a few months now. As you know, all staff here attempt to be as understanding, compassionate and accommodating as possible.

Off-topic, so carry on ...

Welly Wu

August 25th, 2015, 10:51 PM

RichardET

August 26th, 2015, 11:48 AM

I just purchased, downloaded, upgraded, and registered VMWare Workstation 12 Pro for GNU/Linux. It just works. I got a special discount as a former customer. This is a solid software product. I am happy.

I upgraded as well yesterday - its very good, but sometimes kernel updates from Ubuntu breaks it.

Welly Wu

August 26th, 2015, 03:36 PM

Since I use the latest Ubuntu 14.04.3 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux desktop operating system, I almost never get that problem. I can keep updating the Linux kernel and VMWare Workstation 12 Pro 64 bit will continue to just work. I plan to install Netrunning 16 64 bit later today. I'll download and install OpenBSD 5.7 64 bit later this week. My 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC is modern and powerful. I love it.

RichardET

August 26th, 2015, 03:58 PM

I should say, that VMW 12 might be different, but upgrading to version 15.04 of Ubuntu in April broke VMW 11. I had to apply my own patch that someone published on the VMW forum.

Welly Wu

August 26th, 2015, 04:00 PM

This is why I always use the latest Ubuntu 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux distribution version because it just works. VMWare targets this version with support and I don't need to worry about upgrading to a new Ubuntu 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux version until the next two years. The standard Ubuntu releases change too rapidly for my tastes.

Welly Wu

August 26th, 2015, 04:22 PM

I got Netrunner 16 "Ozymandias" 64 bit installed and updated. It has a unique Egyptian theme. It is based off of Ubuntu 15.04 64 bit "Vivid Vervet" GNU/Linux. It uses the new KDE Plasma 5 desktop environment and window manager. It looks nice and it performs fairly well. I am happy that my 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC is well specced. I plan to play with this GNU/Linux distribution later this week.

Welly Wu

August 30th, 2015, 06:20 AM

Last night, I purchased Microsoft Windows 10 Pro Update 64 bit and I pay for Microsoft Office 365 Home monthly subscription. Both installed nearly flawlessly using VMWare Workstation 12 Pro 64 bit for GNU/Linux. This is my current favorite guest virtual machine. My second favorite would probably be Linux Mint 17.2 "Rafaela" 64 bit GNU/Linux followed by PC-BSD 10.2 64 bit BSD UNIX. This is why I paid for VMWare Workstation 12 Pro 64 bit. I use this software product almost daily to install and run multiple guest virtual machines nearly perfectly. It is well worth my money. This is also why I paid such a high price for my 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC. It just works right out of the box with the latest Ubuntu 14.04.3 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux desktop operating system and I can run multiple guest virtual machines without too many major problems. I did not realize just how upper mid range my desktop PC really is until I put it through its paces with these types of usage case scenarios. It performs wonderfully.

My 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC is a little workhorse. I have absolutely no complaints about it. It does almost everything perfectly for me at a price that I can afford. It is upper mid range, but it is powerful enough to chew through computationally taxing workloads without breaking a sweat. It continues to impress me deeply today.

Microsoft Windows 10 Pro Update 64 bit is also impressive along with Microsoft Office 2013 64 bit. Microsoft Corporation will launch Office 2016 for Windows on September 22nd, 2015. I am entitled to a free upgrade with my Microsoft Office 365 Home subscription and so is my father too. My aunt already has Microsoft Office 2016 for Mac and it just works on her mid-2010 Apple MacBook Pro 13" notebook PC.

I am the system administrator and help desk and support technician for my parents, relatives, and close friends. TeamViewer 10 64 bit is essential for me to get my work done remotely and securely. This obviates the need for my loved ones and friends to visit my Nutley, New Jersey apartment to get my expertise help and technical support. It saves all of us precious time and money. I highly recommend TeamViewer if you need to get work done without the hassles of commuting long distances in inclement weather. It's free of charge for personal usage. It works for Microsoft Windows, Apple Macintosh OS X, and GNU/Linux.

This is why I stick with Ubuntu 14.04.3 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux. GNU/Linux is being more widely targeted and supported as a major desktop operating system with each passing year. More PC OEMs, ODMs, and ISVs target GNU/Linux specifically Ubuntu 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux when they decide that the user base and market conditions permit them to enter with their products and services with each passing week. My hope is that Ubuntu 64 bit GNU/Linux will continue this trend and by that time it won't matter which desktop operating system that you decide to use on your PC because hardware and software vendors will be agnostic and support Windows, Mac, and Linux combined and your web browser will be paramount to getting real work done by accessing the cloud infrastructure. We shall see.

Welly Wu

August 30th, 2015, 08:52 AM

I just played Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth and I got a minimum frames per second rate of 80.00 and a maximum of 140.00! I'm using the old nVidia 346.72 graphics driver version which is quite dated.

1. http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2015/08/ubuntu-nvidia-graphics-drivers-ppa-is-ready-for-action

Don't try this on your PC just yet. I submitted a support ticket with ZaReason and they plan to test it by the end of this month. I'll get back to them on it on Monday.

I just played SWG EMU or Star Wars Galaxies using the emulator. I figured out how to fix the connection closed issue and get it patched up and installed properly. Now, I completed the tutorial and left the holding station to a different planet. It's an old PC game, but it sure is a lot of fun to play!

I'm getting my PC gaming on. This is a lot of fun for me.

Madheisen

August 30th, 2015, 09:59 AM

I guess you're planning of taking some holidays for like... 5 years?
I bet that rig is extremely snappy.
Good on you buddy, you deserve it.

I'm currently waiting for my Laptop which will have these specs

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Dual Core Processor i7-5500U (2.40GHz, 3.0GHz Turbo)

Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON SODIMM DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)

Graphics Card
INTEL® HD GRAPHICS 5500 (Only with Intel® Core™ CPUs)

mSATA/M.2 SSD Drive
Plextor PX-G128M6e 128GB M.2 SSD (upto 770MB/sR | 625MB/sW)

Nothing much really, but it will be my first time using ubuntu so I've bought a laptop dedicated for it, with all the privacy issues going on with Windows 10 I don't really trust to have my business data running on it.

Welly Wu

August 30th, 2015, 10:03 AM

Who's the manufacturer and what's the product model for that notebook PC? It looks to be a mainstream laptop that can handle almost everything especially for business usage. I bet it has pretty decent battery life too. Remember, you have to turn off the invasive Amazon and Ubuntu lenses and scopes search features to make Ubuntu more private. It's simple to learn how to turn them off permanently.

I like Microsoft Windows 10 Pro Update 64 bit so far and I trust it enough to put my top secret private user data within Microsoft OneDrive and the guest virtual machine.

I'm trying to be modest by stating that my 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC system is definitely not high end. It gets the job done for me. Then again, I'm a demanding PC guy.

Madheisen

August 30th, 2015, 10:09 AM

It's PC Specialists from UK, they specialize in making custom laptops and PC's and they're cheap too.
I'll keep that in mind.

Welly Wu

August 30th, 2015, 10:19 AM

I can't think of a better way to learn how to use GNU/Linux than to start with an affordable notebook PC and Ubuntu. I would strongly recommend that you start with the latest Ubuntu 14.04.3 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux distribution version so that you do not have to fight with your PC hardware in terms of compatibility because Linux kernel 3.19-x AMD64 will be modern enough to handle those PC hardware components just fine right out of the box. I would also recommend it because it just works and most ISVs target Ubuntu 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux versions if you plan to purchase third party software products and you want them to just work. In the end, you'll save yourself a lot of headaches by doing as little as possible while invoking your root password. Download and install software packages that you need and discover and explore each one until you figure out what else you need. Don't start adding Ubuntu PPAs until you feel confident about what additional third party software packages you want to add. Don't go crazy with the security as Ubuntu is pretty secure by default. Just focus on learning as much as possible and be wary of those Ubuntu guides that tell you the top ten or twenty things that you should do after installing Ubuntu. Be especially careful with handling third party graphics drivers and it is better to avoid them until you know exactly what you are doing because that can hose your desktop faster than a kernel panic. Make sure to keep a few USB 3.0 thumb drives and use the Ubuntu startup creator to write the Ubuntu ISO installation file to each one so that you can reinstall from scratch when necessary. I would recommend that you purchase a notepad and write down the time and date for each piece of software that you choose to download and install. Write down each piece of hardware that you connect to your PC as well. Refer to this journal so that you can trace your steps to reproduce a specific technical issue before you create a thread here asking for technical support. Do a search to see if the subject matter has been covered before you hit that post button. Finally, make sure that you ask around to see if someone else who has posted a reply has enough experience, knowledge, and technical skills to offer a workable solution that is safe to implement. It's more important to consider the context in which they try to understand your problems rather than the specific technical solutions that they offer to you.

RichardET

August 30th, 2015, 08:01 PM

Be especially careful with handling third party graphics drivers and it is better to avoid them until you know exactly what you are doing because that can hose your desktop faster than a kernel panic.

The prior poster stated that he will have the Intel Graphics; As you probably already know Ubuntu has kernel support for it - why would he need "third-party" graphics drivers? I've used Linux for 17 years - never had one "kernel panic" from a graphics driver.

Welly Wu

August 30th, 2015, 10:19 PM

You are reinforcing my point. He should not need to add another Ubuntu PPA specifically for Intel graphics drivers. The default Ubuntu software repository will contain the necessary Intel graphics drivers for his notebook PC components built in. Please don't use the X.Org Edgers or X.Org Pushers or the new Ubuntu Graphics Drivers PPAs whatsoever. Do not download and install the latest Intel open source graphics drivers from their website either. I posted this warning to him because I remember doing so in the past with my 2012 System76 Lemur notebook PC and ruining a perfectly good Ubuntu 12.04.x 64 bit GNU/Linux installation when it came time to upgrade to Ubuntu 14.04.1 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux.

RichardET

August 30th, 2015, 10:58 PM

PPA's?? I cant get why anyone would compile software drivers for their system which
are not part of an official Ubuntu ports set. I would say in general to stay away from such codes.
Talk about introducing security bugs.

Welly Wu

August 30th, 2015, 11:04 PM

Myself, I rarely compile from source using any PPAs. I do add and install software packages from numerous PPAs because I want to use software that are not included within the default Ubuntu software repositories. I think that is valid for my usage case scenario, but I am not a novice GNU/Linux user either. At the beginning when learning new things about Ubuntu GNU/Linux, I think it is safe to stay away from third party software repositories and packages until you learn enough to be comfortable to add PPAs and packages. The good thing about Debian is that it is an advanced package management system so you don't get the complexity of managing software repositories like with Red Hat package management based distributions like OpenSuSE 64 bit. Ubuntu is much easier to learn for beginners.

As an alternative, you could try Linux Mint 17.2 "Rafaela" 64 bit GNU/Linux. There is less of a learning curve involved and it's arguably more popular than Ubuntu right now. There is less upfront work needed to get audio and video codecs installed so you can install it and get up and running almost right away. I would recommend Linux Mint over Ubuntu as the latter is slightly more difficult to learn how to use. I would recommend to stay away from Elementary OS "Freya" 64 bit as it is better suited to intermediate to advanced GNU/Linux users since there are a lot of software packages, libraries, and dependencies that you will need to know to install after you get it up and running.

Welly Wu

September 4th, 2015, 09:19 PM

I installed Debian 8 Jessie with XFCE and Manjaro 0.8.13 with KDE Plasma 5 using VMWare and I think that they are decent. Debian was a chore to install VMWare Tools, but Manjaro was pretty simple. I don't care for KDE at all. XFCE is snappy and it seems to have enough features to make it full featured. I plan to read lots of online user manuals and guides to learn more about all of my installed guest VMs. This is the way to learn safely.

My favorite VM is none of the above. I like each one for different reasons, but the leading candidate is Windows 10 Pro because I paid for it. It's pretty good and the best of the bunch so far.

RichardET

September 5th, 2015, 02:56 PM

XFCE is the best DE as far as I can tell - feature rich without getting in the way.

v3.xx

September 5th, 2015, 03:07 PM

XFCE is the best DE as far as I can tell - feature rich without getting in the way.

It is indeed, but so is Mate :)

Welly Wu

September 5th, 2015, 05:28 PM

I am downloading OpenBSD 5.7 64 bit and Red Hat Fedora 22 64 bit. I plan to install them in guest virtual machines later this afternoon. OpenBSD is interesting because I have a lot to read and learn from the online user manual. This will be my second and more challenging BSD UNIX distribution. I know Red Hat Enterprise Linux very well, but I want to try Fedora because it is more up to date. I may decide to purchase a one year subscription for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 64 bit this Labor Day weekend. I do like RHEL products quite a bit. I think it will be worth the cost because I plan to use it almost daily. VMWare Workstation 12 Pro is earning its value daily for me. It was worth it.

I purchased RHEL 7.1 desktop 64 bit for $49.00 USD with a 12 month subscription. I am eager to try it. I used it in the past, but now I plan to get more into Red Hat software products.

Old_Grey_Wolf

September 5th, 2015, 07:23 PM

I purchased RHEL 7.1 desktop 64 bit for $49.00 USD with a 12 month subscription. I am eager to try it. I used it in the past, but now I plan to get more into Red Hat software products.

Did you look at CentOS before purchasing Red Hat?

Welly Wu

September 5th, 2015, 07:29 PM

I did look at CentOS carefully, but I decided to go with RHEL Desktop because I prefer commercial software products whenever possible. RHEL software products get patches and updates faster and it is better supported in various industries. At NSA, we use RHEL almost exclusively. CentOS is a good fork of RHEL, but the community is undergoing pretty important changes and the manpower and resources are not the same as Red Hat. I can pay more to get another RHEL subscription with standard support in the future.

The problem that I have with CentOS is that getting free support for ISV software products is difficult just like here at Ubuntu Forums. Over time, I plan to populate each of these guest VMs with more commercial software products and my private user data and this will be challenging to accomplish because I rely on a lot of paid software products. I should be fine on my own, but RHEL is a known quantity to me so that's why I decided to pay for it.

Welly Wu

September 5th, 2015, 08:07 PM

Fedora is too unstable and bleeding edge, but I'll keep it. The GNOME DE crashes once in a while and I need a password to restart or shut down the guest VM. My root and administrator passwords don't seem to work. Yup, it's Fedora alright!

Old_Grey_Wolf

September 5th, 2015, 08:55 PM

Willy Wu,

Use what works for you. If you think commercial software products are superior for your needs than F/OSS then use the commercial software products.

Welly Wu

September 5th, 2015, 09:38 PM

Old_Grey_Wolf

September 5th, 2015, 11:34 PM

CharlesA

September 5th, 2015, 11:57 PM

There was a thread started on the Ubuntu forum about 7 years ago titled something like 'Don't preach, mention'. It was directed at new converts to Ubuntu. I think it is relevant to people that prefer commercial software products as well. I use whatever meets my needs; however, other people have different needs. ;)

This is true. Some people have different requirements that aren't met with Ubuntu or Red Hat, or one of the other flavors, so they run Windows or OSX. It all depends on the individual.

RichardET

September 6th, 2015, 12:27 PM

I installed RHEL 7.1 64 bit and it was smooth as butter using VMWare. This is a winning combination together. It's so much more stable, mature, and polished than Fedora 22. I like it a lot and it brings back lots of old memories of working at NSA. This is a good software product and well worth the money that I paid for it. It's cheaper than Windows 10 Pro too. I can install it on up to three PCs unlike Windows 10 Pro. RHEL is the gold standard for commercial Linux distributions in North America.

Why not reverse your system? Use RHEL as your host and then all others as VM's, since you prefer resting on a paid stack? RHEL makes its money the old fashioned way - off of free labor. I realize that the GPL allows it, but why support it?

Welly Wu

September 6th, 2015, 12:55 PM

It takes a lot of work to install a different desktop operating system and get my favorite software products up and running. Some are not readily available for different package management systems. Almost everything just works right now so why should I mess it up by switching to Windows 10 Pro or RHEL 7 or something else? Ubuntu is free of charge which is nice. I like the Novell AppArmor system as it's easier to create my own custom profiles compared to NSA SELinux which requires four times more lines of code to write a targeted profile and policy. The Debian apt system is state of the art and it handles dependencies very easily. RPM is also pretty good, but mixing software repositories and resolving missing dependencies along with making the right choices over which package version and dependencies to choose can be challenging. This can lead to a broken system if one is not careful and astute. Finally, RPM lacks certain Debian apt features that I have come to expect in a modern package manager which make it a bit more difficult to perform esoteric package management commands in the terminal.

Welly Wu

September 8th, 2015, 12:28 PM

1. https://www.g2a.com

I watched a YouTube video about custom PCs and the author of the video recommended G2A where he purchases his PC games. I checked it out and it seems legit. I created a free account and I activated the G2A Shield for a nominal fee. I ordered the Valve Source PC game pack and I paid $30.68 USD when the MSRP is $99.99 USD right now. There are over $205.00 USD worth of Source PC games and all are available for SteamOS + GNU/Linux. I downloaded and installed all of them and I tested Half Life 2 last night and it just works. I'm going to continue purchasing SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games from G2A using the G2A Shield in the foreseeable future. Sometimes, the G2A prices are higher than Steam for brand new PC games, but it usually becomes much lower after a couple of days. Community sellers usually sell their PC games at much lower prices and it is safe to buy from reputable sellers using G2A Shield. This is a good place to buy PC games for cheap prices. Now, I can spend the same amount of money each week for PC games and wind up with lots more as a result. I recommend G2A with their G2A Shield.

Welly Wu

September 9th, 2015, 03:47 AM

1. http://www.techbrown.com/install-cinnamon-2-6-on-ubuntu-14-15-linuxmint-17-1.shtml

2. https://launchpad.net/~tsvetko.tsvetkov/+archive/ubuntu/cinnamon

I followed the first guide to download and install Cinnamon 2.6 64 bit on Ubuntu 14.04.3 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux tonight. I hope that this works and it does not screw up my ZaReason Zeto desktop PC system.

I am in the middle of a Deja-Dup backup of my /home/wellywu folder and I can not restart my desktop PC yet. Ubuntu's software updater is telling me that I need to restart my desktop PC after installing the latest Linux kernel 3.19-28 AMD64 tonight.

I chose to try the latest Cinnamon 2.6 desktop environment and window manager because I like it in general and I think that it is advanced enough to meet my usage case scenario and work flow habits. I also wanted a backup DE and WM just in case Ubuntu Unity fails. I am familiar with Cinnamon, but I have not used it in a period of time. I hope that it just works after I restart my desktop PC tonight.

If I like it, then it will become my primary DE and WM. I think that I will like it quite a bit. It should be interesting. I have no other plans to install another DE or WM at this time.

Welly Wu

September 9th, 2015, 11:44 PM

1. https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-mate-dev/+archive/ubuntu/trusty-mate

I followed this to install Ubuntu MATE. I have to log out and test it soon. Hopefully, it will just work. I shall see.

Welly Wu

September 12th, 2015, 12:05 AM

I have not told any other member here at UF to buy new hardware or software and I have not told anyone what kind of software that they should use on their PCs. I hope that other members here understand my request that they should not tell me what software I should use on my desktop PC any longer because I will ignore almost all of them and keep using Ubuntu.

This is why I paid $200.00 USD for VMWare Workstation 12 Pro. I want to be able to purchase, install, and use different desktop operating systems in separate guest VMs with the added safety and security in knowing that I don't have to replace Ubuntu with something else that catches my fancy at the time.

Finally, I think that I have made the case for choosing a desktop PC rather than a notebook PC clearly. As of today, you'll pay roughly 25% more for a notebook PC and get 25% less power as a result compared to a desktop PC. For example, a higher end desktop PC with Windows 10 can play high end PC games at 4K UHD resolution while almost no notebook PC can do the same at similar frame rates, yet it will cost you more money for a notebook PC of similar PC hardware specifications. Desktop PCs are good for power users like myself. In the future, it will be easy to replace nearly everything inside my ZaReason Zeto desktop PC except the power supply unit whereas a notebook PC is considerably more difficult and expensive. I regard notebook PCs as throw away PCs over time. The reliability of a notebook PC comes into question once you start travelling with it around the world. Once you use Microsoft Windows with any PC, a million things can go wrong. Desktop PCs are good for reliability and stability reasons alone because I don't have to worry about loss, theft, or vandalism.

People should reconsider the idea of purchasing a desktop PC when the time is right to consider a new PC in the future. In terms of sheer value and performance combined, it is hard to beat a desktop PC. Upgrading individual PC components is also much easier and you get more available choices at highly competitive price points. Notebook PCs don't offer these inherent advantages yet. The other issue is that batteries need to be replaced and sourcing parts for older notebook PCs can be more challenging over time when the manufacturer stops selling or supporting a specific brand or product model. Desktop PCs face these challenges too, but batteries don't come into factor.

Geoffrey_Arndt

September 12th, 2015, 05:38 AM

Welly Wu

September 12th, 2015, 03:27 PM

I got a lot of software installed overnight. My friend Vincent gave me a genuine copy of Star Wars Galaxies and I successfully installed it using Codeweavers CrossOver. I also installed the SWG EMU and Bloodfin EMU. Then, I installed Star Trek Online using CrossOver and it just works too. I purchased quite a number of SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games including The Witcher III: Wild Hunt, Deadfall Adventures Digital Deluxe Edition, Kerbal Space Program, Valve PC game pack, and Simply Chess which is free.

CrossOver can download and install a bunch of Microsoft Windows software applications natively for Ubuntu. It's amazing technology.

I plan to purchase XCOM 2, Football Manager 2016, and perhaps another couple of SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games later this year. I own 351.00 SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games out of a total of 658.00 Steam PC games right now. This weekend, it will rain pretty hard and there will be thunderstorms so I plan to play some PC games.

PC gaming is a lot of fun!

RichardET

September 12th, 2015, 04:41 PM

Beyond the very functional, clean and pleasant user experience Linux has become (over the past 4 years especially) - - there are other far more important issues at stake. Those issues involve power, and control. Consider just one element of control: security. Consider another, communications.

Many Governments (pro, neutral and anti US) are actively taking steps that will limit the reach of MS, Apple and other companies from these countries. These governments, business, military etc. don't care about best gaming platforms, or best looking OS. They have more pressing issues - - as should the US consumer also. It's going to be much harder to payoff/control hardware OEM's that are largely based in Asia 5-10 years from now than it is today. (they're not exactly Gabon by any stretch).

And it doesn't look like that manufacturing capability is coming back to the FVEY countries anytime soon.

caveats: I use both Xubuntu (Lenovo B590) and Windows 10 (Lenovo W530), that being said, I also use OpenBSD on my 2006 era Compaq Sempron. It's 64 bit, SECURE, and truly FREE, as in FOSS FREE. No binary blobs on this box, my friend! Support the only remaining FREE OS - OpenBSD!

OpenBSD 5.7 (RAMDISK_CD) #806: Sun Mar 8 11:08:49 MDT 2015
deraadt@amd64.openbsd.org:/usr/src/sys/arch/amd64/compile/RAMDISK_CD
real mem = 3404660736 (3246MB)
avail mem = 3312402432 (3158MB)
mainbus0 at root
bios0 at mainbus0: SMBIOS rev. 2.4 @ 0xf0000 (53 entries)
bios0: vendor Phoenix Technologies, LTD version "3.13" date 11/15/2005
bios0: Compaq Presario 061 EL426AA-ABA SR1710NX NA611
acpi0 at bios0: rev 0
acpi0: sleep states S0 S1 S3 S4 S5
acpi0: tables DSDT FACP SSDT SRAT MCFG APIC
acpimadt0 at acpi0 addr 0xfee00000: PC-AT compat
cpu0 at mainbus0: apid 0 (boot processor)
cpu0: AMD Sempron(tm) Processor 3400+, 1990.16 MHz
cpu0: FPU,VME,DE,PSE,TSC,MSR,PAE,MCE,CX8,APIC,SEP,MTRR,P GE,MCA,CMOV,PAT,PSE36,C$
cpu0: 64KB 64b/line 2-way I-cache, 64KB 64b/line 2-way D-cache, 128KB 64b/line $
cpu0: ITLB 32 4KB entries fully associative, 8 4MB entries fully associative
cpu0: DTLB 32 4KB entries fully associative, 8 4MB entries fully associative
cpu0: AMD erratum 89 present, BIOS upgrade may be required

Welly Wu

September 12th, 2015, 04:57 PM

I plan to install OpenBSD 5.7 in a guest VM this weekend. I should read the online user's manual first though. It will keep me busy and interested in BSD UNIX.

Welly Wu

September 12th, 2015, 06:57 PM

I deleted Red Hat Fedora 22 Workstation because it is too unstable. I can't get any system administrative work done using it. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 is much better and it just works. It is a paid software product and I expect it to just work. I have new love for Red Hat. RHEL 7 is awesome!

Welly Wu

September 12th, 2015, 07:33 PM

I installed GNOME and KDE from the main Ubuntu software repositories. Now, I'm all set. I don't plan to add any PPAs for newer versions of GNOME and KDE because I don't want to risk the reliability and stability of my Ubuntu desktop.

Old_Grey_Wolf

September 12th, 2015, 08:01 PM

You seem to like playing with various VMs. Have you considered using something like Ubuntu OpenStack or VMware vSpere to manage/deploy them on multiple hosts machines?

Welly Wu

September 12th, 2015, 08:25 PM

Nah. I only own one desktop PC. VMWare Workstation is better suited for me because I don't plan to buy a second PC later this year. Thanks for your suggestion though.

I updated my guest VMs an hour ago. Now, I'm waiting for Microsoft to release Office 2016 for Windows on September 22nd, 2015. I have to use TeamViewer 10 to connect to my parents' Win10 laptops to download and install it on their PCs. I also have to do it for my Win10 Pro guest VM too.

I'm looking forward to Codeweavers CrossOver 15 for Linux. I am hoping that they will support the Microsoft Office 365 Home (Office 2013) installation file so that I can download and install it in Ubuntu with good compatibility later this year. I love Microsoft Office 2013 and 2016 should be incrementally better. This is why I paid so much for Win10 Pro and VMWare Workstation 12 Pro.

I think that I will read the OpenBSD online manual tonight. Tomorrow, I will install it in a guest VM.

I am looking to purchase SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop for $53.50 USD sometime next week. I am having a problem with the Digital River payment card system and many others have complained that it declines all card payment methods. I may have to call Digital River to get this fixed so that my payment will be approved and I can download and install SLED in a guest VM. I like OpenSuSE quite a bit and I am curious about SLED which is more reliable and stable. I am eager to pay for it and try it in a guest VM next week.

I am going to visit Distrowatch this weekend to see if there are any other Linux or BSD distributions that I might want to try in a guest VM. If I find a good candidate, then I'll reply here.

My favorite guest VM is Win10 Pro followed by RHEL Desktop 7 or SLED 12 later next week when my payment is approved and I install it. The fastest guest VM should be OpenBSD 5.7 or 5.8 later this year because it is relatively small and it also is highly secure by default. It is the most interesting to learn more about this weekend.

I got to take a nap and get some sleep tonight. I was up all night working on my desktop PC to purchase, download, and install software. I guess this means I'm a PC geek.

Old_Grey_Wolf

September 12th, 2015, 08:56 PM

I was experimenting with virtualization in 2005. In 2008, I set up a lab at home using Eucalyptus to manage/deploy VMs on several computers I had. The company I worked for wanted to set up a virtualized datacenter in 2009. I got the Lead Systems Engineer position because I actually had knowledge and experience on the subject. The company wanted to use products with commercial support licenses so we used VMware vSphere. We had a working datacenter in 2010. I retired 1.5 years ago.

Back on subject. How do you like your 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC?

Welly Wu

September 12th, 2015, 09:16 PM

I love it! This is the best mini-ITX SFF desktop PC that I owned in seven years. I love it a lot.

When I was doing my research between System76 and ZaReason, one thing that struck me was that ZaReason builds reliable PCs. Many customers own products that have lasted several years with no malfunctions, defects, or failures other than normal wear and tear on keyboards or mice. This is why I chose to spend the extra money to get my ZaReason Zeto desktop PC system. It is also the only mini-ITX SFF desktop PC from a GNU/Linux certified PC OEM or ODM currently available and that sealed the deal for me.

Bucky Ball

September 13th, 2015, 06:34 AM

Yes. Back on topic, please. This thread is frequently getting radically off-topic and we know what eventually happens. Thanks. :)

RichardET

September 13th, 2015, 12:20 PM

Yes. Back on topic. This thread is frequently getting radically off-topic and we know what eventually happens. Thanks. :)

I know what the thread title is: "2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC ", but what exactly IS the topic?

"Hey, I just bought a $5000 desktop computer with more computing power than NOAA had ten years ago, and guess what? I play a whole lot of games, and run 15 VM's on it, opening the same firefox web page in each one of them and I do it all at the same time!!"

What more can be said?

Welly Wu

September 13th, 2015, 07:38 PM

ha ha ha!

There is one complaint that I have with my PC. I wish that it came with SD card slots so that I can use it with a digital video camera. For some people, this might be the deal breaker. I can always buy an external SD card reader, but I would have liked if it came with one. For me, this is not a huge issue because I don't have a digital camera so it's okay.

Welly Wu

September 17th, 2015, 11:36 PM

I am human and I make mistakes just like everybody else. One mistake that I learned not to repeat again is with regard to the X.Org Edgers or Pushers PPAs. When I had my System76 Lemur notebook PC or my current ZaReason Zeto desktop PC, I used to add the X.Org Edgers PPA to get the latest AMD, Intel, or nVidia graphics drivers and X.Org graphical stack. GNU/Linux assumes you know exactly what you are doing when you invoke root privileges. This is not Mac or Windows that warn you when you are about to do something potentially dangerous. One of the fastest ways to hose a GNU/Linux desktop operating system is to install the wrong software especially with regard to the Linux kernel, drivers, and graphics stack. The X.Org Edgers or Pushers PPAs add the latest and greatest graphics drivers and stack and they are designed for SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC gamers that want to use the latest hardware and software. ZaReason recommends that I install it. However, it makes it difficult to upgrade to the latest LTS hardware enablement stack and it makes it more difficult to upgrade to a new Ubuntu 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux version in the future especially when using the ppa-purge command. I tried this in the past and the ppa-purge command uninstalled a lot of proprietary software products and it made Ubuntu useless and unstable as a result of my own fault for not reading the proposed changes carefully. Now, I have learned to avoid the X.Org Edgers and Pushers PPAs like the plague.

There is a reason why Canonical chooses to use the older AMD, Intel, and nVidia graphics drivers with each Ubuntu 64 bit LTS version. Each one is well tested and supported and it is stable. The price of playing with bleeding edge hardware and software is that it results in bleeding from a thousand paper cuts.

Besides, I don't play nearly as many SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games as I would have some people think. I purchase and collect them not necessarily to play all of them all of the time. I can afford to do this.

Old_Grey_Wolf

September 17th, 2015, 11:56 PM

...GNU/Linux assumes you know exactly what you are doing when you invoke root privileges. This is not Mac or Windows that warn you when you are about to do something potentially dangerous...

I always thought that having to enter the root or sudo password was enough of a warning. Yeah, it is not Mac or Windows. ;)

Welly Wu

September 23rd, 2015, 08:54 PM

1. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UXTN5P0?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

I just ordered my EVGA nVidia Geforce GTX Titan X Super Clocked with 12.00 GB GDDR5 VRAM GPU from Amazon. I called both EVGA and ZaReason and they told me it would be compatible and it will just work right out of the box and it will push my ZaReason Zeto to the limit, but it will just work. I should get it tomorrow. I plan to call ZaReason tomorrow afternoon to get help on how to install it. I'll use the regular nVidia Geforce 346.72 64 bit graphics driver. I'm not adding the X.Org Edgers or Pushers PPAs again. I should be happy with this product tomorrow. I just paid $1,079.79 USD for my product.

RichardET

September 24th, 2015, 02:50 AM

Great, what can you do with it?

Welly Wu

September 24th, 2015, 03:56 PM

It's designed primarily for hardcore PC gaming, but it can be used for video rendering as well. I purchased Lightworks Professional so I have some videos that I want to edit and render to share with family and friends.

d-cosner

September 24th, 2015, 04:36 PM

I bet you dim all the lights where you live when you power on your computer! :lolflag:

Welly Wu

September 24th, 2015, 06:31 PM

I got my EVGA Super Clocked nVidia Geforce GTX Titan X 12 GB GDDR5 VRAM GPU. I installed it and it just works. Ubuntu 14.04.3 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux picked it up right away without the need to do a nvidia-xconfig. I played Sid Meier's Civilization V: Complete Edition and I get 194 frames per second at high settings. Previously, my EVGA nVidia Geforce GTX 970 4 GB GDDR5 VRAM GPU got 120 frames per second. I also played Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth at ultra graphics settings and I get 175 frames per second. Previously, my EVGA nVidia Geforce GTX 970 4 GB GDDR5 VRAM GPU only got 50 frames per second.

I need to eat my lunch and take a short nap. I'm a little bit tired because I woke up a bit early this morning. I might go to sleep later this afternoon.

EVGA's product manager was right in that my Hadron Air is compatible with my EVGA Super Clocked nVidia Geforce GTX Titan X 12 GB GDDR5 VRAM GPU. I have no problems with my ZaReason Zeto desktop PC system as of yet.

Time for lunch and a nap.

Bucky Ball

September 24th, 2015, 06:49 PM

If I may ask ... what are you doing with the discarded, redundant components as you purchase new stuff? Selling? Giving away? Recycling? Just curious. :-k

Welly Wu

September 24th, 2015, 07:21 PM

I'm going to keep my EVGA nVidia Geforce GTX 970 GPU for the next 30 days just in case I need to return the Titan X for some reason which will probably not happen. After that, I don't know.

I ate a big lunch and I took a short nap. I still feel groggy.

I need to get the Steam Guard mobile app to log into my account and use it for two factor authentication. I can log into my Steam account, but using the Steam Guard mobile app to log into my Steam account a second time results in a spinning circle that gets me nowhere. I created a support ticket with Valve Corporation on this matter. I want to use the Steam Guard mobile app for increased security rather than my e-mail address. I use Google GMail and I turned on two factor authentication using my LG smart phone, home telephone number, and Google Authenticator mobile app, but it's not enough security for me. I added my cell phone to receive SMS text messages from Steam just in case as a backup, but I know that this is insecure. However, it's better than nothing. I'll wait for Valve to get back to me and I'll try the Steam Guard mobile app later tonight to see if I can log into my account and get it set up properly.

The one thing that I don't like about the EVGA Super Clocked nVidia Geforce GTX Titan X 12 GB GDDR5 VRAM GPU is that the Geforce GTX logo lights up a bright green. When I go to sleep at night, I try to keep the lights dimmed to low settings. Otherwise, my desk is like a table lamp at night and I can sleep, but it's distracting. I don't like shutting down my PC at night because I have important backups to do overnight.

My ZaReason Zeto desktop PC is amazing. This is the most powerful desktop PC that I have owned yet.

SantaFe

September 24th, 2015, 07:29 PM

If I may ask ... what are you doing with the discarded, redundant components as you purchase new stuff? Selling? Giving away? Recycling? Just curious. :-k

Yeah, if he's giving it away, I'll stand in line for some of those discards. ;)

RichardET

September 24th, 2015, 08:40 PM

CharlesA

September 25th, 2015, 02:37 AM

The one thing that I don't like about the EVGA Super Clocked nVidia Geforce GTX Titan X 12 GB GDDR5 VRAM GPU is that the Geforce GTX logo lights up a bright green. When I go to sleep at night, I try to keep the lights dimmed to low settings. Otherwise, my desk is like a table lamp at night and I can sleep, but it's distracting. I don't like shutting down my PC at night because I have important backups to do overnight.

You can turn that light off, but you need software that is Windows only.
http://www.geforce.com/whats-new/guides/geforce-experience-nvidia-geforce-gtx-led-visualizer-user-guide

Welly Wu

September 25th, 2015, 03:08 AM

Thanks, but I won't be trying that out using Codeweavers CrossOver or WINE. I guess that I will have to live with it. It looks nice, but it's a bright green light and I like my desktop PC to be as dark as possible.

d-cosner

September 25th, 2015, 03:16 AM

It looks cool, I would learn to live with it. The specs are pretty amazing too! I could not imagine having 12 GB of dedicated graphics memory.

Bucky Ball

September 25th, 2015, 05:14 AM

You could turn the power off on the monitor ... :-k

Welly Wu

September 25th, 2015, 01:07 PM

I do turn off the monitor at night. I can't turn off the bright green light on the Geforce GTX logo for my Titan X unless I use Microsoft Windows 10 Pro. I might try that though using the VMWare guest virtual machine, but I doubt that it will work.

My desktop PC system cost me $5,109.97 USD. That's what I paid for it. I've never had such a high power PC in my life until now. It's simply amazing. Ubuntu is great as well. Almost all of my hardware and software just works right out of the box.

I'm in the middle of uploading my data to my Western Digital My Cloud Personal Cloud 4.0 TB NAS drive at my parent's apartment in Randolph, New Jersey. They went on trip, but I'm keeping an eye on their apartment as is my brother. One thing I don't like about the WD My Cloud is that it keeps popping up a window that says that this site certificate does not match and I have to click the yes button to continue uploading my data. So, there is no unattended upload. It's paid for though.

My desktop PC chews through everything that I throw at it. I'm importing and editing family videos and the Titan X and Intel Core i7-4790 process and render videos very quickly at 1080P resolution. I can shoot an hour long video and completely edit and render it in less than five minutes.

Old_Grey_Wolf

September 25th, 2015, 09:22 PM

Do what we did with the blinking clock on the old VHS players every time the power went out. Cover it up with tape. :lol:

Welly Wu

September 25th, 2015, 09:41 PM

Most of the time, I have not been playing SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games. I'm in the middle of uploading my data to my WD My Cloud during my waking hours. I hope to finish it by October 1st, 2015. I have a few hundreds of gigabytes left to upload. Unattended uploads are not possible using the WD My Cloud desktop app. Once this is done, I will be playing more PC games again.

My desktop PC is incredibly powerful. I rendered another 1080P hour long video in less than four and a half minutes flat with GPU hardware acceleration enabled. It does produce an audible whir when the fans kick up, but it's tolerable. It is not dead quiet or nearly silent. That's another thing that I have to learn to live with my desktop PC. I wish ZaReason would offer sound absorbing materials as an optional feature, but the EVGA Hadron Air has no such thing.

I love desktop PCs again. They're much better than notebook PCs on the whole since I am a power Ubuntu user.

CharlesA

September 26th, 2015, 01:31 AM

What is this WD My Cloud? I thought it was just a hard drive you plugged into the network. Why would it take so long?

Welly Wu

September 26th, 2015, 01:38 AM

I have 300.50 GB of media data. It's going to take some time to upload almost all of it to my WD My Cloud 4.0 TB NAS drive. I should be done tomorrow or Sunday at the latest. Then, I can play my SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games again and see how my Titan X performs.

CharlesA

September 26th, 2015, 03:20 AM

Does the desktop application tell you what the transfer speed is? I'm curious. Hope the copy completes quickly so you can start playing your games!

Welly Wu

September 26th, 2015, 03:26 AM

Here's how it works. First, I gave my WD My Cloud to my parents and it is at their Randolph, New Jersey apartment. So, I have to upload my data over Western Digital's servers which gets copied to My Cloud product using AES 256 bits. Mind you, I almost always use Private Internet Access VPN with AES 256 bits SHA-256 and ECC 521 bits so it is double encrypted. Then, it does not tell me how fast my upload or download speed is. Neither does it give me an estimated time period when each upload batch will be done. So, I'm kind of in the dark here. Finally, my parents switched from Verizon FiOS Quantum fiber optic Internet to Optimum Online coaxial cable Internet which is half the speed of what they used to have so it reduces bandwidth quite a bit.

Sure, I want to play my PC games, but I don't want to play games with my private user data at the same time.

Backups are important and boring. I'm uploading as much data to my cloud NAS drive as quickly as possible, but I should be done by October 1st, 2015.

CharlesA

September 26th, 2015, 05:16 AM

That makes sense then. Uploading a ton of data over a slow connection isn't fun at all.

Welly Wu

September 26th, 2015, 10:28 AM

I have one more big sub-folder to upload and I should be done soon. Then, I can play some SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games again. Yay!

I woke up early this morning at 4:55 AM EST. I should be done with the first of two big sub-folders to upload later today. When that gets done, I can move to the second big sub-folder today and I hope to finish uploading everything to my WD My Cloud tonight.

This means that I can't go back to sleep and I have to monitor my upload progress until both are done today. Boo hoo!

On another note, I keep buying SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games from G2A. I usually save at least 50% off the MSRP listed on Steam if not much more per title. At this point, I have almost every SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC game that I want for this year. Anything else that I continue to purchase will be gravy. There will be a couple of more titles that I want to purchase later this year. I'm not going to be able to finish all of them, but I like to play a little bit of some of my titles and it is a lot of fun. My nVidia Titan X is super powerful at 1080P resolution. It's roughly 3.5 times more powerful than my nVidia Geforce GTX 970 on average. This makes PC gaming a very fluid and smooth. I can play almost all SteamOS + GNU/Linux and select Microsoft Windows PC games at ultra at well over 60.00+ frames per second or much higher. Now, I'm becoming a more hardcore PC gamer a little bit at a time with each passing day. My desktop PC is a beast and a monster and it is super powerful.

Desktop PCs rule for PC gaming compared to notebook PCs. The sheer amount of power and the ability to upgrade individual PC components are unmatched. I also save a lot of money compared to paying much more and getting a lot less for a gaming notebook PC.

I do have an Ubuntu notebook PC: the ASUS K50IJ. It's old, it's slow, and it's virtually obsolete, but hey that's what I got. So, I got both ends of the spectrum covered now.

Next year, I'm thinking about getting a gaming 4K UHD monitor. I checked the PC Gamer article on the best gaming monitors and they recommend a 1440P resolution gaming monitor at this point. Technology does change rapidly over a short period of time so I'm hoping that they will revise their recommendations and a company will offer a 4K UHD IPS with nVidia G-SYNC monitor next year albeit at a surfeit price. In the meantime, I'll continue paying my bills on time and reducing my credit card debt. I should be debt free again by the end of this year. Next year, I can save up my money for a new gaming 4K UHD G-SYNC monitor. Between today and that time in the future, I'll continue to buy more SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games from Humble Bundle, Steam, G2A, GOG, Bundle Stars, etc. at discounted prices. I want to reach the 1,000.00 PC game title mark sometime next year. Mind you, that's in total and not necessarily for just SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games alone.

Ubuntu continues to impress me daily. It just works day by day. I have zero problems with Ubuntu that I can't easily and quickly figure out with a Google search. I'm sticking with the latest Ubuntu 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux version at all times.

Welly Wu

September 26th, 2015, 10:49 AM

1. http://www.evga.com/Products/Product.aspx?pn=12G-P4-2992-KR

This is my EVGA Super Clocked nVidia Geforce GTX Titan X GPU card.

Welly Wu

September 26th, 2015, 07:55 PM

It is not my intention to come across as being arrogant and rich in my thread to other members here. I am simply stating the facts of what I purchased and own without editorializing the details. I realize that some have flagged this thread and others as violations of the rules here, but I do strive to adhere to most of them most of the time so as not to become permanently banned again.

I am a GNU/Linux enthusiast. I like high end PC hardware components and I like high performance computers. I also like playing PC games and running virtual machines. Most of the time, I'm backing up my data or surfing the World Wide Web.

I do not need to apologize for who I am or my good fortunes to anyone. I understand that life is not fair and I have certainly seen my share of setbacks and hardships in the past. I have excellent to outstanding memory retention and I can empathize with others that are not as well off as myself at this time in my life. I have also tried my best to help others in different threads by sharing my customer experiences and opinions about products and services when applicable. A few have benefited from my knowledge and experience in the past. I have been told that I do good work for the most part.

Please understand that this is not a competition to see who has the most money and is willing to spend large amounts of it on his or her PC system. I don't criticize or attack others here based upon what PC or software that they choose to use, but I have been on the receiving end of sharp attacks and criticisms of which some are not warranted and are on borderline compliance with the rules set here in this community.

If you don't like this thread or me, then don't read my stuff and go about your own way. I don't intend hard feelings with strangers in this forum.

I do have a blog style of posting, but that is not going to change and some habits are not easy to change for me as I continue to grow older. Sometimes, I find it difficult to implement a specific workaround or solution to a technical challenge because the other member does not inform me as to why it worked for him or her before I test it myself. To that end, I strive to share my opinions and the reasons behind my decisions with others. It is up to you to take it at face value and do your own due diligence in accordance with what I present from multiple sources.

I would like to continue my participation here, but only if I feel welcome to do so. I'm facing stronger resistance and push back based on some posts that I made and there are no easy solutions to differences in people's opinions of me. So be it.

mikodo

September 26th, 2015, 11:59 PM

As one who reads threads to learn, I always try to read yours. (I like the line breaks you have started using lately, I find them easier on my old eyes).

I believe most of the people reading threads and not responding are in the majority here. Just look at the number of times this thread has been viewed and contrast the posts in it.

As in all things in life, there is always going to be a small minority of people who can't or don't try very hard to, not offend others.

I struggle with what I perceive to be put-downs, and know that I am over-sensitive. So, I know what it is like to feel jilted.

As a young man, I would often take that feeling and direct it back to others in violent ways. Sometimes, even towards unsuspecting non-involved parties.

As long as I don't revert to that behavior now, and stay cognizant that there are going to be times I feel others are being unkind, (in reality or just in my perception), I use other behaviors and actions that I have learned to, dismiss/attend to those feelings. It's a constant task but, has its' rewards.

As one who has benefited from your, "I strive to share my opinions and the reasons behind my decisions with others."; I feel, your leaving would be a loss to the silent majority of people reading your words.

I see your last post, as a very good example of using healthy behavior and actions, to deal with a personal concern. I applaud your effort.

Welly Wu

September 27th, 2015, 12:00 AM

The uploads are now done. Most of my data is on my WD My Cloud. I'm tired from babysitting my PC all day so I'll listen to music tonight to relax and go to bed a little bit later than usual. Tomorrow, I will play SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games. I uploaded over 3,100 files totalling almost 60 GB today. I had to take a break between these two large sub-folders for lunch and to hang out with my good friends at his apartment.

I realize that some people are interested in what my desktop PC is capable of doing in terms of PC gaming, but I'll write about it tomorrow.

Welly Wu

September 27th, 2015, 12:14 AM

Thank you. It's good to see that I have a few friends here. Search for Welly Wu who lives in Nutley, New Jersey on Facebook if you wish to send me a friendship request and I will accept. It would be good to do so since I am concerned that I might get permanently banned here at any time.

Back on topic, the biggest differences between the GTX 970 and GTX Titan X comes down to finding a balance between the nVidia Geforce GT/GTX and Quadro products. The GTX 970 is squarely aimed at PC gamers and content creators that need to find the right balance of price, performance, value, and energy efficiency. It is the sweet spot as of today which is why I bought it. The GTX Titan X is a different animal. It is designed primarily for PC gaming and it offers some of the limited features and performance of the Quadro products at a fraction of the cost. It is not a terribly good value. You can do much better by getting the GTX 980 Ti for a substantial savings with only a roughly 5% performance loss compared to the Titan X on most synthetic benchmark results.

The reason why I bought the Titan X other than I can afford it is due to the fact that I wanted a future proof desktop PC system that will last me several years. I'm shooting digital photographs and videos and editing and rendering are becoming more important to me. I purchased LightWorks Professional for video editing and rendering and I still own Adobe PhotoShop CS2 (version 9.x) using Codeweavers CrossOver for Ubuntu 64 bit GNU/Linux. I also use GIMP and Dark Table too.

Geforce GTX Titan X is an unusual GPU in the current market because nVidia essentially made it less desirable when it released Geforce GTX 980 Ti earlier this year. Yet, the increased CUDA cores and GDDR5 VRAM make it ideal for 4K UHD editing and rendering along with PC gaming. This is why I want to save up and get a 24" 4K UHD with nVidia G-SYNC monitor next year. A desktop PC allows me to upgrade each individual PC component over time quite easily.

I don't think that other people should buy the Titan X and they should choose the Geforce GTX 980 or 980 Ti if I were to make a recommendation to others especially when it comes to SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC gaming as the sole application. Titan X is very expensive and it is esoteric with a usage case scenario that doesn't meet real world applications at a cost effective manner compared to Geforce GTX 980 Ti. The new high end GPU is that one and it is the sweet spot in the upper price bracket for now. Titan X is for future proofing with the intention not to upgrade GPUs annually which is my usage case scenario.

Lastly, I have an Associate's Degree in Liberal Arts, a Bachelor of Arts in English Creative Writing with a minor in Linguistics, and a Masters of Science in IT Administration and Security. I tell you this to let you know why I blog so much that I can't help it. I've tried to be brief, but this is not the Welly Wu style of posting. People that read snippets of my post better understand who I am and what I can contribute here at UF. I don't mean to offend, harass, or demean others and I stick to the rules here as best as I can because I don't want to be permanently banned again. I also hold many IT certifications including Red Hat, networking, and security.

I think it's better to know the devil than to be in the dark. Some people have a pretty good idea of who I am here at UF and that's fine by me. I'm pretty forthcoming to strangers and I exchange information and data readily to foster rapport and to get to know people well quickly.

I woke up at 4:55 AM EST today and I just finished my two sub-folder uploads at 7:15 PM EST today.

Welly Wu

September 27th, 2015, 02:52 AM

Now, I understand why I bought VMWare Workstation 12 Pro and Microsoft Windows 10 Pro 64 bit.

I like high resolution lossless music albums specifically classical, new age, and female jazz vocalists. HD Tracks is a company that sells these music albums albeit at high prices for direct download, but I contacted this company and they told me that when they switched to the JRiver Music Downloader software product it does not support GNU/Linux at all. I can not log into my HD Tracks account to download my purchases using Codeweavers CrossOver for Ubuntu Linux. So, I used my guest virtual machine to install and log into my HD Tracks Download Manager software application and I enabled folder sharing in VMWare and I can download and copy my paid music to Ubuntu.

As much as I love Codeweavers CrossOver for Linux, there really is no substitute for the real Microsoft Windows 10 Pro. It offers 100.00% compatibility with Windows software applications. Now, I can continue to buy more HD Tracks music albums and move them to Ubuntu with this albeit expensive software.

It comes down to features and capabilities folks. I have a specific usage case scenario that works for me. There's a lot of HD Tracks music albums that I want to buy in the near future.

JRiver Media Center 21 allows me to play them flawlessly and it works for Ubuntu GNU/Linux, Windows, and Mac because I paid for a Master License at a discounted price as an existing customer.

This also means that I can shop around for both PCM and DSD music albums using my guest virtual machine and move the music albums to Ubuntu and use JRiver to play both formats.

I'm happy. I listen to music most of the time.

rewyllys

September 27th, 2015, 05:12 PM

Hi, Welly.

This is just to let you know that I enjoy reading your detailed, and therefore very informative, postings about your system and your ways of using it.

Those who don't find your detailed postings interesting can simply ignore them, so I don't see why anyone should object to your postings.

Keep them showing up here.

Welly Wu

September 27th, 2015, 05:34 PM

Thank you.

So, what is it like to use the Titan X? There are two types of answers for me. First, playing SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games is mostly fluid. Now, there is the ability to choose ultra graphics settings in certain titles like Bioshock Infinite or Shadow of Mordor that were not available with the GTX 970. There is a little bit of lag when loading PC games, but that is due to the fact that I keep them on my WD Black hard disk drive. I usually turn off VSYNC and it does produce a bit of screen tearing and micro stuttering artefacts, but it is pretty minimal.

Second, video rendering is much faster. Importing videos still takes time depending upon the size of the file and resolution that I'm working with, but once I've done my edits and I'm ready to render everything goes by much more quickly with the Titan X than the 970. This is where the Titan X really shines. The ability to load large video projects with up to 12 GB of GDDR5 VRAM makes rendering it out a lot faster. I don't edit and render a lot of videos so there is not a lot of content that I have available to work with yet.

The other thing that I notice with the Titan X is that Ubuntu is a lot faster too. Getting to the log in screen and my chosen DE and WM is much faster. When I import digital photographs, it is much quicker too. Editing photos in real time is extremely fast because most of them are up to 1080P and I usually compress them into JPEGs to save disk space. Applications like Dark Table, GIMP, Shotwell, DigiKam, and especially Adobe Photoshop CS2 are much faster with the Titan X.

I think that the Intel Core i7-4790 is the bottleneck at this point. I would have paid more money to get the unlocked K Devil's Canyon version, but ZaReason did not make that option available at the time of purchase. It's okay though and I'm happy with my Intel CPU.

Finally, ZaReason did a good job of building my Zeto. Cable management is excellent and there is just enough room in the SFF desktop case to fit my components and do individual upgrades down the line. I like the design and functionality as it makes it easy to manage CDs and DVDs along with USB 3.0 devices. It is compact and quite powerful.

One thing that I might consider is the new Samsung virtual reality headset when Valve Corporation launches Steam Machines in November 2015. I don't know when it will be launched, but it looks intriguing and it is priced much lower than the Oculus Rift VR headset which requires Windows. I might decide to purchase it, but I will wait for product reviews of the Samsung VR headset first before I pay for mine. I never experienced VR technology so this seems to be interesting.

As for the 4K UHD IPS G-SYNC monitor, I'll hold off until next year. I find that 1920 X 1080P Full HD to be sufficient and pushing my Titan X at ultra graphics settings usually produces between 60 - 100 frames per second depending upon the PC game title. That is the sweet spot for me right now. Going to 4K UHD is going to degrade graphics performance a lot and then I have to deal with Ubuntu's HiDPI settings at that resolution. I'm more interested in the Samsung VR headset later this year as that will give me a new user experience that I am looking forward to and it is much cheaper than a 4K UHD monitor.

Welly Wu

September 29th, 2015, 04:23 AM

I added the X.Org Edgers PPA, but I don't see newer nVidia graphics drivers above 346.92 64 bit for my Titan X. What gives? What do I need to know here?

CharlesA

September 29th, 2015, 04:39 AM

Probably the latest stable driver.

Nvidia's site has 352.41 drivers, but I doubt there would be much improvement. They are packaged in a .run file.

Welly Wu

September 29th, 2015, 04:40 AM

1. http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2296796

Sorry, but I did not mean to double post in two threads. I'll follow the other one, but if someone can take a look at this new thread and answer my questions or help me with my confusion, then thank you.

Welly Wu

September 29th, 2015, 10:52 PM

I noticed that adding both the X.Org Edgers and graphics drivers PPAs and upgrading to nVidia 352.41 64 bit now results in almost all SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games set at ultra graphics settings to perform at well over 100.00 frames per second at 1920 X 1080P full HD resolution. It is a big difference and a free upgrade that just works for my desktop PC. I was shocked by just how many more frames per second I now get as a result of the simple upgrade in nVidia graphics drivers especially for some of the latest SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games that the latest stable graphics driver targets for further optimizations.

I had a problem with one of my USB 3.0 ports on my desktop PC because I accidentally unseated the USB 3.0 header cable inside the case. I firmly pushed it in and now all USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports work normally again.

It's a very tight fit, but everything is working perfectly with hardware and software. This is the best desktop PC system that I've ever owned yet.

Bioshock Infinite went from 85.00 up to 128.00 frames per second at ultra at full HD resolution because of 352.41. Civilization V went from 194.00 up to 208.00 frames per second at full HD. I'm going to test more SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games later this week to see just how much 352.41 improved graphics performance. So far, it is a nice upgrade in performance.

Welly Wu

October 2nd, 2015, 04:51 PM

1. http://lin-app.com/

I knew about this website from a few years ago, but I decided to follow its Facebook page and I visit it more often. Some of the companies and software products are out of business as listed on this website, but I am going to be researching and saving up my money to buy more commercial GNU/Linux software products listed on this website in the foreseeable future. The next purchase will be the Infinite Kind's Moneydance. I purchased this several years ago to replace Intuit Quicken and I need to log back into my account and buy the latest version in order to download and install it so that I can manage my personal budget using a native GNU/Linux software application. There are other pieces of software products that I am also interested in, but I need to do more research. I think that Lin App is a useful website for people like me.

Welly Wu

October 9th, 2015, 12:42 AM

I got Houdini Apprentice and Wolfram Mathematica 10 64 bit recently. While my EVGA nVidia Geforce GTX Titan X is not the best choice for professional applications, it gets the job done in a pinch. I do a lot of mathematical computations using Mathematica 10 so I thought it would be worth it to purchase and own this software product. I also used Codeweavers CrossOver to install the Blizzard Battle.Net software application, but I have not purchased any Blizzard Microsoft Windows PC games even though CrossOver supports Diablo III among other titles.

I am selling my EVGA nVidia Geforce GTX 970 4 GB GDDR5 GPU to a friend on Facebook. I have no need for it any longer so I don't want it to collect dust. I plan to use the money that I get to pay down my credit card debt significantly faster by the end of this year.

I now own 715.00 Steam PC games of which 405.00 are available for SteamOS + GNU/Linux. I added several more to my wishlist and I plan to purchase them later this year during a semi-annual holiday sale.

Next year, my goal is to save cash inside my Sentry Safe and spend a little per month to keep purchasing more SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games. I'm saving up for a really insane top of the line mini-ITX small form factor desktop workstation PC like the Falcon Northwest Tiki. I just hope that I can contact whichever PC company that I purchase my future desktop workstation to allow me to use the latest Ubuntu 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux desktop operating system on it. I may get the Puget Systems Genesis I desktop workstation PC as an alternative choice.

My goal is to reach the 1,000.00+ Steam PC game ownership badge sometime next year.

This is my Steam profile: https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198036767565/

Welly Wu

October 13th, 2015, 12:01 AM

I contacted Kaspersky to inquire about Kaspersky Endpoint Security 8 for GNU/Linux and I will have to wait until the company representative gets back to me. I did quite a bit of research and I found that Kaspersky Endpoint Security 8 is the best paid anti-malware software product currently available for both Microsoft Windows and GNU/Linux combined. Note: Linux anti-malware is nice to have for home consumer desktop users, but it is not necessary. However, with the emergence of new GNU/Linux malware, I thought it would be prudent to investigate this software product and save up my money to purchase it early next year. It features 24/7/365 real-time protection which other free GNU/Linux anti-malware software products don't always feature. This looks like an interesting software product and I will continue my research. If I like what I find based upon my research, then I will definitely purchase, own, and use it daily. This will help to better protect my Ubuntu desktop PC.

My desktop PC is fantastic. It is everything that I hoped and dreamed about years ago. This is my own dream machine. It's absolutely incredible in terms of features, capabilities, and especially performance along with storage capacity. There is nothing that I throw at it yet that it can not process quickly. Playing the latest SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games while running two guest virtual machines and surfing the World Wide Web using Mozilla Firefox plus running my favorite Microsoft Windows and GNU/Linux software products all at the same time as running a Bitdefender antivirus definition update and full system scan are a breeze. It never crashes and it never chokes up even at full throttle.

It does get quite warm under heavy load. During this Fall and upcoming Winter seasons, I welcome the added heat dissipation as it makes my bedroom considerably warmer. It's like a compact space heater under heavy load. During the Summer, I have to keep my air conditioner turned on in my apartment to cool my PCs and electronics sufficiently especially under heavy loads.

I know that I am exceptionally lucky and I am grateful. This is my dream machine. I won't replace it with a newer and more powerful modern desktop PC until my ZaReason Zeto malfunctions or fails.

Welly Wu

October 14th, 2015, 04:20 AM

I wanted to update this thread by stating for the record that it is advantageous to purchase a desktop or notebook PC from a GNU/Linux certified PC OEM or ODM rather than a Microsoft Windows PC and fighting with the PC hardware components in trying to install or configure Ubuntu or any other GNU/Linux distribution. While I understand that not everybody has the same kind of personal budget as I do, going with a GNU/Linux certified PC not only shows your support, but it greatly eases the installation and usage of GNU/Linux in a virtually trouble free user experience that is a pleasure to use daily.

Paying the extra money for hardware and software validation and certification pays off dividends in the long term. It makes for a good Ubuntu user experience that is smooth and trouble free. If your goal is to use GNU/Linux as your own PC rather than going through the troubles of making it work on a Windows certified PC, then this is my recommendation to others for their consideration. Both System76 and ZaReason are leading PC OEMs and ODMs that cater to us and they have a small yet comprehensive product selection catering to different users and budgets.

My 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC system is a pure joy to use daily because I don't have to fight with the PC hardware components to get Ubuntu to just work right out of the box. Sure, ZaReason is more expensive than System76, but both companies are on par for the industry being that they are small companies. I've been able to reinstall Ubuntu on several occasions without any troubles and to perfect my desktop to suit my personal needs and preferences far beyond what Microsoft Corporation will permit me to do so with Windows 10 Pro or any previous version. It has also saved me more time and a little bit of money from not having to purchase specialized Microsoft Windows software products to perform narrow functions and I am not overwhelmed by a large number of competing software products with tantalizing features and capabilities at premium prices either.

I recommend that people investigate purchasing a desktop over a notebook PC if you plan to use it at work or home primarily. The problem with System76 and ZaReason notebook PCs is that the build quality can be a little iffy because they don't control the design of the hardware completely. They should not be confused with Apple, Inc. I don't like notebook PCs because of their high turnover and repair issues. My usage case scenario is unique and it does not take into consideration other people's needs.

Finally, I think that people should choose Ubuntu as their primary and sole desktop operating system unless you have a specific usage case scenario or preference for a competing GNU/Linux distribution. Ubuntu gets the job done for the vast majority of people in a user friendly way that primarily focuses on delivering a good desktop user experience. The large community here and user base make it an attractive GNU/Linux distribution to use on your PC and the ease with which to administer it on a daily basis makes it a fairly low maintenance choice. Ubuntu is free of charge too.

mikodo

October 14th, 2015, 10:15 AM

Snippet

Finally, I think that people should choose Ubuntu as their primary and sole desktop operating system unless you have a specific usage case scenario or preference for a competing GNU/Linux distribution. Ubuntu gets the job done for the vast majority of people in a user friendly way that primarily focuses on delivering a good desktop user experience. The large community here and user base make it an attractive GNU/Linux distribution to use on your PC and the ease with which to administer it on a daily basis makes it a fairly low maintenance choice. Ubuntu is free of charge too.

Hi Welly Wu.

I read the whole post, as usual. I'm excited about Ubuntu Snappy updates. When that is up and running smoothy, Ubuntu should be an even better user experience with less troublesome updates. Not that it has been much of a problem for the end user these days. If Canonical/Ubuntu/ Developers/Vendors see a problem, they should see the most of these issues before releasing and just continue with a a working version until it proves to be a worthy upgrade and then release it. Even then, if an unforeseen problem arises, they can just role it back to a working version, until the problem is fixed and release it then again and end-users shouldn't notice many regressions that are "show stoppers", "along the line", with Snappy.

That made me think of a comment you made a while ago, along the lines of Ubuntu shaking things up in 18.04. Do you remember as to what context you were referring to? That kind of stuck in my mind and I am curious what that might be.

I am happy your ZaReason Desktop, is working out as well as it is, for you.

Welly Wu

October 14th, 2015, 12:34 PM

Based on what I am reading on the mailing list, it seems that Ubuntu 16.04 will not include any ground breaking new software technologies like Snappy, Mir, etc. It will still be based off of Debian. It might not include the Ubuntu Software Center either. Right now, the focus is on Wily as it should be.

I can not say for certain what Ubuntu 18.04 is going to look like at this time. It was just mere speculation on my part with that earlier post.

Desktop PCs rule. I think that the next desktop PC that I will purchase several years from today will be another high end ZaReason PC. I like what this company is doing.

mikodo

October 14th, 2015, 08:28 PM

Thank you, Welly Wu.

It is exciting times for Ubuntu development. I am thinking of installing Ubuntu at 16.04 to watch the development progression and to use as my main install going forward. With that I want to use VirtualBox to house instances of my favorite desktop, Xfce. (Xubuntu and probably Debian Stable Xfce, to stay in touch with that too).

I am really enjoying being an Ubuntu user and appreciate the security and progressiveness of it. And, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the Community around Ubuntu especially, the Ubuntu Forum people and ones that frequent/participate in other support venues, from Ubuntu Community wikis, askubuntu and the individual entities that contribute sites, providing knowledge for Ubuntu topics.

All in all, I believe, Ubuntu is on "top of the food-chain", when it comes to providing for the Linux end-user's experience.

I apologize, for getting off topic.

Welly Wu

October 27th, 2015, 04:23 AM

It's been a couple of weeks since I bought my EVGA Superclocked nVidia Geforce GTX Titan X GPU and I can say that it has met and exceeded my wildest expectations thus far. This is the fastest and the most powerful single card GPU currently on the market and I have played dozens of SteamOS + GNU/Linux along with Microsoft Windows PC games using it and it has performed flawlessly. Using my ASUS VS228 1920 X 1080P full HD color monitor, I can set all PC games at ultra or ultimate graphics settings with MFAA x16 and other advanced graphics settings to the maximum levels and I get well over 60.00 frames per second. Most of the time, I usually get well over 100.00 frames per second. PC game play is smooth as butter and I have used Wolfram Mathematica to perform advanced mathematical calculations, simulations, tests, etc. and it performs well for being just a single precision FP32 GPU. In terms of brute, raw, horsepower, it is unmatched and I think it is well worth the insanely high price that I paid for it and then some. My Intel Core i7-4790 CPU is also no slouch in its own regard and I am able to chew through all of my computing tasks and software applications like nobody's business. This is a fairly modern and powerful high end mainstream CPU that performs well and it is energy efficient while staying cool with the stock Intel CPU air cooler. My dual Crucial SATA-III 6 GB/s solid state disks are ultra reliable and super fast as well. Complex tasks like rendering large photographic and video files is a breeze while doing heavy multi-tasking on my ZaReason Zeto desktop PC system. Though I wish that I could have up to 32.00 GB of DDR3 1,600 MHz SRAM, I feel that 16.00 GB is sufficient for my own usage case scenarios and work flows. Having a modern and powerful desktop PC is a dream come true for me. There is almost nothing that I can do with it and it is a pure joy for me to use daily. Combined with Verizon FiOS Quantum 100/100 MB/s symmetrical fiber optic Internet access, using Ubuntu 14.04.3 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux is a blast. I can purchase, download, install, and play with a lot of premium content quickly. My desktop PC has an EVGA Hadron Air case with a 500.00 watt 80+ Gold Plus certified power supply unit and it is very energy efficient while staying relatively quiet with just air cooling. This is the best desktop PC system that I have ever used yet and I am glad that ZaReason built it for me perfectly. It is amazing!

Welly Wu

October 28th, 2015, 03:28 AM

I joined a large number of online communities catered toward PC enthusiasts which center around Microsoft Windows. I keep reading threads, replies, and posts by other members about the various horror stories regarding different versions of Microsoft Windows and other software products. The latest are the Windows 10 users that have problems with nVidia Geforce GTX 980Ti GPUs and the proprietary nVidia graphics drivers in SLi configuration not working for some reason with certain Microsoft Windows 10 PC games utilizing DirectX 11 or 12 APIs. The other comments that I read are from other members that complain that their Windows PCs are broken because it didn't shut down cleanly or it won't boot up properly or the graphics are messed up and they wind up logging into an incomplete desktop with missing elements that are critical to Windows 10. Then, there are other members that complain that Windows 10 feels bloated and sluggish after each Patch Tuesdays updates. Some are downright infuriated and frustrated with Windows 10 because some of their favorite software products are no longer compatible and they must repurchase it again to support it.

With almost all commercial off the shelf technologies especially desktop operating systems and software products, there are software flaws and there are a million different things that can go wrong with any Microsoft hardware or software product or service if it is installed bare metal on a desktop or notebook PC. This complicates itself further if there is a dual-boot configuration especially if it includes some version of Microsoft Windows and GNU/Linux and there is an unexpected technical issue that causes the operating system drive to die or fail to boot up GRUB or any other commercial boot manager software product.

This is why I chose to purchase my 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC and I stick with Ubuntu 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux as my primary and sole desktop operating system. I knew that these problems would emerge soon after Microsoft Corporation released Windows 10 on July 29th, 2015 and that there is no end in sight toward fixing existing and future technical issues with their panapoly of products and services. I did not want to roll the dice and save a few hundreds of dollars by purchasing a Microsoft Windows 10 desktop or notebook PC and installing Ubuntu 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux alongside it just in case something goes horribly wrong with either one.

A new friend of mine experienced a total loss recently. His Crucial M500 512 GB SSD failed and it needs to be RMAed. This will cost him two days and shipping fees. His RAID server failed and he has to rebuild his RAID array from scratch. His Windows 10 partition failed to shut down cleanly and it destroyed his primary operating system drive and GRUB. He had to ditch Windows 10 and he now uses Ubuntu full-time which means he wasted his time and money largely through no fault of his own. He custom built his desktop PC to ensure as much compatibility for both Windows 10 and GNU/Linux as possible. Yet, he is spending his time fixing his desktop PC and RAID array on his server at this moment. It can be argued that these are unrelated problems, but I attribute it to Windows 10's failure to shut down cleanly. He cut the power off of his desktop PC and it never worked since then.

I know that I have written positive things about Windows 10 and other Microsoft software products in past threads and replies here, but I am also glad that I purchased VMWare Workstation 12 Pro and installed my Microsoft Windows 10 Pro in a guest virtual machine for added safety and security. My way is much more expensive, but it saves me precious time and the agony of frustrations in the end. I understand that my way is not affordable to some other people, but this is what I have chosen to do.

The more that I lurk and read threads, replies, and posts along with comments in Microsoft forums and Facebook groups I am convinced that I made the right series of choices for myself regarding my desktop PC system. I am entitled to my own opinions and there may be others that disagree especially on Microsoft centric communities, but I am stating this here for the record. Ubuntu is the best desktop operating system that meets my exact needs for free of charge and it just works most of the time. My greatest threat is myself since I have root Administrator privileges. Keep it simple. Maintain the status quo. Don't get too curious about new software products, packages, libraries, or dependencies from various PPAs. Let this cat live out its nine lives. Nothing is broken so don't fix anything.

mystics

October 29th, 2015, 01:14 AM

Personally, I would say that if anyone wants to minimize failures, they should just get a Mac. That's one of the selling points of Macs after all: You have a limited selection of hardware and a relatively locked-down OS, but you also have a level of stability that Windows and Linux can only dream of achieving. Yes, it isn't perfect, but I hear far fewer rants from my friends using a Mac than I do from Windows or Linux. Even I, personally, could go on and on about the problems I've had with Linux and the problems I've had with Windows. But after four years of using a Mac, the worst problem I ever had was that my disk needed to be repaired, and I wouldn't have even realized there was a problem if it weren't for me trying to partition it to put Linux on it!

That isn't to say that I don't think Windows or Linux have their places. I just wouldn't say that they have much to say in terms of stability. Even when I try to get my friends to try Linux, I'm never going to tell them that they're guaranteed a smooth experience. I've seen way too many WiFi, keyboard, graphical, and hard disk problems arise to be so deceptive. So if someone is looking for a stable alternative to Windows, I would always tell them to go with Mac. I can at least feel confident that they won't yell at me when they get it because they can no longer boot into their operating system. Sure, I know plenty of people that only have to spend a few minutes configuring things properly and downloading the right drivers, but I'm not going to act like I've never seen some truly horrible failures, even if some of them (i.e. one of them) are (is) caused by someone not listening to what I said.

And one last thing: I'm not trying to question your experience, Well Wu, nor am I trying to turn this into an OS war (we've had plenty of those in other threads lately). I'm just saying that I don't personally see Linux as a stable alternative to Windows. It's just a nice alternative but for other reasons.

mikodo

October 29th, 2015, 01:42 AM

^^ What do I know of Security, Stability, Co-operativity (with other components). Nothing!

You will have to take me for my word, (or not) when I say that I've read where, there have been time(s), where security patches were a little late with a Mac. I would link to what I have read if, I could remember to what it was. I cannot though. That being said, it might be true with any OS.

I do depend on Linux to be safe in regards to Security and, it is one of my reasons I like Ubuntu. They tend to attend to what needs to be done in regards to it. When there is something pointed out to them by the greater Linux community, they act on it. Also, they "pride" themselves on Security and offer ways of Security, for the end-users that, I "think' might be a little more advanced. I do know at least this. There is lots of Security subjects online in Linux & BSD. I don't know if the same is true elsewhere for Mac's cause, I haven't looked.

Let the bashing begin but, remember my first sentence. I make no claim to knowing what I am talking about.

Addendum: I shaved and showered and had a cigarette, (ya, I started again) and while doing that, I was thinking about what I wrote.

My concern is this. Too many people, I believe, blindly follow accepted "Norms". Such as, I don't have to worry about Malware, Security, End-user online habits, the security model of an OS I use, because it is "accepted" to be safe. I know of personally too many people who lay claim to being safer because, they use Macs and those same people don't practice "safe-sex", kidding, but you know what I am getting at here. The same could be said of Linux users except, I don't know of anyone personally that uses it. I have even read of the security model and practices of a very popular Linux distro, that is lacking in its approach to Security. I fear for my friends, acquaintances who, blindly do what they want with their Macs because of using a Mac alone.

I remember when, I first came to Ubuntu. I was using a computer, (this and only one I have), six months after starting with Microsoft Vista. I contracted "the conficker worm, and couldn't back out of it. The only person, that I have met personally I know that used Linux, casually suggested I learn that. I haven't seen that shop keeper in years. So, I did what he said, and got a disk upon request in the mail, and was using it in WUBI, for a couple of months when, the conficker worm disabled my machine and the Kasperski's internet suite, I was using. I installed Ubuntu over it. The next thing I set out do was, "harden Ubuntu", I think is the term I used in, I believe my first thread post here. I heard then, and a lot of the same accepted Norm later, that Linux was safe, over and over again. I don't hear that as much now, and I am relieved. I'm relieved because, I don't think someone should "blindly" follow the Norms, without seeing what they can learn about it first. There are definite things that must be considered about security with any OS, and I fear for the masses that don't at least try to be safe. Linux I know, has many tutorials available online for people to learn how to make their OS, computer and their usage safer. From what I have heard from the acquaintances and friends that use Macs is, generally a statement like, it's Mac, I don't need to worry, (and are blindly doing what they want, thinking they are safe). I know these people and they tell me what they do. I hope I am wrong for their sakes but, I still worry for them.

End of Rant.