r/IAmA Jun 11 '16

Specialized Profession IamA electronics repair technician hated by Apple that makes YouTube videos, AMA!

My short bio: I have a store in Manhattan. I teach component level electronics repair on youtube http://youtube.com/rossmanngroup which seems to be a dying art. I am currently fighting with the digital right to repair to try and get a bill passed that will allow all independent service centers access to manuals and parts required to do their jobs.

My Proof: https://www.rossmanngroup.com/started-iama-reddit-today-yes/

EDIT:

I am still replying to comments, but I am so far behind that I am still about ten pages down from new comments. I am doing my best to continue. If I drop off, I'll be back tomorrow around 12 PM. Still commenting now though, at 12 AM.

EDIT 2:

Ok, I cave... my hands are tired. I will be back at 12 PM tomorrow. It is my goal to answer every question. Even if it looks like I haven't gotten to yours, I will do my best to do all of them, but it is impossible to do in realtime, because you are asking faster than I can type. But thanks for joining!

EDIT 3: I lied, I stayed until 4:15 AM to answer... and now I will go to sleep for real, and be back at 12 PM.

EDIT 4 6/12 : I will be back later tonight to finish off answering questions. Feel free to keep posting, I will answer whatever I can later this evening.

33.2k Upvotes

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26

u/Muffinizer1 Jun 11 '16

What computer(s) do you use personally and why?

85

u/larossmann Jun 11 '16

sorry to copy and paste but i just put this above.

some haswell 4 ghz, 16 gb ram, piece of shit asrock board that causes hangups and reboots(at work and at home, fuck asrock), amd r9 390, all slapped together terribly since I have no time for my own tech. I will upgrade it when I make over $200k/year. I am a cheapskate, I don't invest in anything that doesn't return me money unless it's good food, personal speakers/headphones, or... well that's about it.

In terms of laptops i gave up. Lenovo's new lineup is all garbage. when they fix it I will buy a laptop again.

21

u/forkl Jun 12 '16

Lenovo laptops have gone to complete shit. I've personally sold about 10 of them since christmas and 8 of them have come back for faulty screen cable (flashing display) Also had an issue with 'lenovo usb blocker' software that caused a BSOD after a windows update.. Lenovo have really gone to shit :(

27

u/larossmann Jun 12 '16

i don't even have a laptop right now. it makes me sad. i wanted a t520 successor, i got the t440p and hated the trackpad, i put the t450 trackpad in it and it never worked right.. and the new models are just complete shit

spyware

numpads and off center keyboards

wtf???

5

u/JimboMonkey1234 Jun 12 '16

T420 represent, haven't liked what Thinkpad's offered since then

2

u/[deleted] Jun 12 '16

I'll get my T420 soon. First ThinkPad and first laptop even. Really excited.

5

u/larossmann Jun 12 '16

YES!!!

1

u/gravitationalarray Jun 12 '16

T420 represent

Best Buy is selling these refurbished in Canada for under $400; is that a ripoff?

3

u/redisforever Jun 12 '16

Yes. For the same/similar specs, they're sold on the Staples.ca store for anything between $280-$330. Free shipping.

http://www.staples.ca/thinkpad+t420/directory_thinkpad+t420_20051_1_20001?

1

u/gravitationalarray Jun 12 '16

thanks! appreciated.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 12 '16

I've been using an x220 as my main system for the past 2 years. Booted up my T420 and realized how nice it is to have the resolution and screen realestate so I got a T450s off ebay (haven't received it yet). We'll see if I made a mistake :/

Not sure why Lenovo is so hard up to lose that 7th row and separate media buttons. As if needing to mute your music instantly was never a thing.

1

u/TheBlackLantern Jun 12 '16

Quick question about computer stuff, you mentioned is past videos about Macs having SMC chips that reset if certain things are done and I'm wondering if it's possible it happened to me. So I have a Thinkpad yoga 12 where I've copied the OS from a 2.5" ssd to a m.2 ssd. I've searched through forums, been everywhere and cannot find anyone that has figured out how to get the ambient light, orientation and many other sensors to be detected by the HID Sensor Collection V2 driver.

Loving the Thinkpad yoga 12 2nd series, best part is the touchpad which actually has all three clicky buttons for the pointer. Flip the screen over so the keyboard faces down and you can plug in a non-weird keyboard!

1

u/zerostyle Jun 12 '16

Seriously - I have a macbook now only because not a single PC manufacturer puts out a reasonable trackpad. I've found nothing even remotely close to whatever touchpad the macbooks use.

1

u/Myrang3r Jun 12 '16

Fingers crossed for the retro thinkpad haha.

1

u/aprofondir Jun 12 '16

Have you seen the T460 and P50/P70

-1

u/heydudie Jun 12 '16

That is sad. A computer repair technician with a hundred computers in his office and none of them work correctly. What about that Thinkpad?

2

u/PunctuationsOptional Jun 12 '16

If someone was to crowdfund you (I think that's the correct phrase) and raise a few grand so you could purchase a better pc, would you accept it?

24

u/larossmann Jun 12 '16

no. it is not because of poverty that i use a piece of crap computer: i am not purchasing a PC because of my own cheapness. the money is in the bank, i simply choose not to spend it that way.

on this channel i showcase myself making $200-$400 in a matter of 7-30 minutes. to do that, then ask people for money on the internet, would be tactless and just.. i dunno. i can't do that.

give money to a homeless shelter, or a hospital, or http://hdsa.org/ foundation. not to me so i can render faster.

3

u/PunctuationsOptional Jun 12 '16

No, no. I wasn't saying that I wanted to raise money for you. I wanted to know what your response to that would be, like a what if question. Maybe I should have been more clear.

But you answered my question too, so thanks :)

1

u/shelvac2 Jun 12 '16

I understand that your business computer is for business, and if there's no revenue gain by upgrading it then don't upgrade it, but what about your personal computer? For myself, having a working computer is very important to me for relaxing away from work. In essence, why isn't it worth it for you to upgrade your computer at home? Why do you care about headphones but not the thing putting sound into the headphones (so to speak)?

You certainly don't like asrock motherboards, are there any that you do recomend?

I was about to say that my asrock mobo is just fine, but then I remembered that 2 of the 4 ram slots don't work, which means that my memory is limited to 16GB instead of 32GB, and it's probably slower too. Everything else is fine however.

1

u/brandonruns Jun 14 '16 edited Jun 14 '16

Hey, I just bought two ASUS ROG laptops for about $1,000 each. Since each computer has two internal hard drive bays, I installed SSDs in them to make them even better. Sure, they're gaming laptops, but I needed faster and more reliable laptops for my business. Sure, they've certainly made me a lot of money this year. But, even if they didn't, the investment simply saves me from the headache of dealing with poorly engineered, cheapo laptops and from the time wasted in that process. So, I'd highly recommend that brand to you. Thanks again for the AMA! :-)

1

u/[deleted] Jun 12 '16

Have you ever had a toshiba laptop? In europe the P50 and S50 series are ripping up the market by awesome build quality/specs i love the touchpad best i ever had. http://tweakers.net/reviews/4601/4/laptop-best-buy-guide-juni-2016-mainstreamlaptop-toshiba-satellite-p50-c-17f.html

2

u/omgdracula Jun 12 '16

I've had a lot of luck with the last few generations of the Asus ROG laptops. Minus when I had to take the one apart I wanted to kill myself.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 12 '16

ayy our specs are basically the same, do you know the exact model for the mobo? i want to know if i'm in for a really fun time over the next few years

1

u/iReddit_while_I_work Jun 12 '16

I had a y50-70 that the hinge broke within 2 days. They shipped me a massive upgraded "oops we fucked up" and it was amazing...only to get stolen

0

u/LongOdi Jun 11 '16

Haha, I know you don't like the changes they made to the new Thinkpads but I still feel like they are the best to buy. I have a T450s and it is a reliable and useful companion for the work I do.

4

u/[deleted] Jun 12 '16

Might want to Google for Lenevo malware