Comments

Soniclight wrote on 12/16/2014, 4:31 AM
@Johnmeyer -- just as an aside, regarding keeping/discarding old CRTs: You wrote:
".....still only have one big LCD flatscreen TV because my old CRT TVs, some of which were purchased at the end of the CRT era and were the cheapest buys at Costco, are all working just fine (My underline here.)

I have no idea where you live, but in the U.S. - at least major metropolitan areas, there is such a thing as "e-recycling" centers. For pretty much anything electronic, i.e. phones to TVs, monitors, etc. In my area, they collect them every such and such Saturday/s of the month in the parking lot of a supermarket. Usually arranged with the City and local commercial e-recycling centers -- it's for the general public. If you own a business then it may be even easier to just go to one of those commercial centers.
Chienworks wrote on 12/16/2014, 8:50 AM
My local transfer station accepts old electronics and batteries for recycling. Technically you're supposed to hand over $5 to the attendant for each item to pay the recycling fees, but most folks just drive off without paying. *sigh* They may have to hire a guard for the gate. Of course, that would divert a lot of the $5 fees they collect to pay for the guard, so it might not be a winning proposition.
johnmeyer wrote on 12/16/2014, 11:22 AM
I am quite aware of the various recycling options for electronics. However, my basic issue is the idea of taking something that is still 100% functional and then throwing it out. My parents grew up in the Depression, and I learned their values: "waste not, want not."

Also, while Waste Management, the excellent company that handles much of the waste disposal and recycling in many parts of this country, does have protocols for handling electronic waste, it is not clear to me how much of it actually does get re-used, and how much of it instead ends up in landfill. Even the stuff that doesn't end up in landfill may not be possible to break down into component chemicals and therefore may simply be incinerated.

It still bothers me that Apple continues to sell products that become bricks as soon as the battery dies. Back in the 1950s and 1960s, there was lots of talk of "planned obsolescence," but nobody back then would have ever been able to imagine that a company could get people to buy something that would become useless once the battery died.

We've come a long way, baby, but not always in the right direction.
videoITguy wrote on 12/16/2014, 12:39 PM
Electronics recycling and disposal are continual problems. Environmental impact is huge even from just small cell phone industry. Wait till electric cars rule the road. Well that is not going to happen, I can guarantee. Just disposing of the first million electric cars on the planet is going to make oil pollution from all of history look like a piece of cake...
Lovelight wrote on 12/16/2014, 12:51 PM
Please, you guarantee nothing with your know-it-all-isms. You do not see the future.
johnmeyer wrote on 12/16/2014, 12:58 PM
Wait till electric cars rule the road. Well that is not going to happen, I can guarantee. Just disposing of the first million electric cars on the planet is going to make oil pollution from all of history look like a piece of cake...There was a big story about this just yesterday:

Study: Your all-electric car may not be so green

I read portions of the study itself, and it is not particularly well done. However, many years ago after I'd had dinner with one of the Tesla founders (the guy who got forced out), I did my own research on the "well-to-wheel" efficiency of electric cars. Bottom line: if the electricity for your car comes from burning fossil fuel in a power generation plant, that electricity will only make your electric car go a fraction of the distance than if the same barrel was turned into gasoline and used to power a conventional car. Therefore, a LOT more CO2 is generated per mile with the electric car if that electricity comes from burning oil, gas, or coal.

I don't know how much of a problem is going to be caused by recycling the electric car batteries. I do know that lead-acid batteries are almost 100% recyclable, and I suspect the same is true of Li-On technology.
Soniclight wrote on 12/16/2014, 2:01 PM
@Johnmeyer - You opened your reply to me with --- "I am quite aware of the various recycling options for electronics." It was late last night/early morning and I knew I should have opened my comment on the recycling with "As you mostly likely already know..." But my brain was going for spin-down sleepy time so pardon the omission.

One thing I know about you over my several years conversing with you on and off-board is that you are quite knowledgeable and erudite in matters video, electronics and otherwise, often going way over my amateur head on details -- but I still do learn things from you.

In terms of "planned obsolescence" et al, indeed, we've got a long way to go to really be green. I'm kind of compulsive in that I'll take apart microwaves, old DVD and tape decks, amps--anything with a circuit board, etc. to separate the boards/electronics and such from the casings. One of these days I'll get them recycled. I just keep procrastinating for I only ride a motorcycle and forget to ask a neighbor to help me lug it all over to the place I mentioned. So I could be a bit greener myself. :)

~ Philip
Soniclight wrote on 12/16/2014, 2:10 PM
In terms of the OP's subject, I just recently and finally conceded to get my first SSD (as my OS) drive. I was not comfortable with the state of tech of SSDs for years, hence the postponement. I got a Samsung 850 Pro (their best) and it carries a 10 year consumer warranty*(a bit short of 1,000 years, but still remarkable). That is one of the reasons I got it; the other is its high marks at Tom's Hardware and Anandtech, and a few other places.

Will it last that long? Who knows. All I can do is take good care of it.
In the mean time, I sure to enjoy the very fast boot-up and progs launching.

(* There is the other TB-usage or writes warranty but that applies more to commercial/enterprise situations, i.e. servers, etc.)
Steve Mann wrote on 12/17/2014, 10:16 PM
No industrial spy. All the offshore motherboard makers were buying from the same source of tantalum capacitors, and that source was buying chemicals from the lowest bidder.
Chienworks wrote on 12/18/2014, 7:57 AM
"10 year consumer warranty"

Note that the warranty will only provide for replacement or refund of the physical drive itself, not the data contained therein! So, don't take that warranty as an excuse to not bother making backups.
riredale wrote on 12/19/2014, 12:29 PM
Steve Mann: No espionage? Is there some article that goes into this?

I've seen articles like this one that play up the espionage thing.

Googling "electrolytic capacitor lifetime" and nosing around the results has taught me that these devices, remarkably, are considered "limited-life" components, unlike all other electronic components such as resistors, coils, and ICs. The literature implies to me that 15 years is a pretty good lifetime! They fail because the electrolyte eventually leaks out or migrates, and there are factors that affect life: operating temperature, operating voltage, ripple voltage percentage, vibration, and number of on-off inrush cycles.

We had some double-glazed living room windows replaced a few months ago. The glass people said that ALL double-glazed windows will eventually fail (the seal will fail, resulting in gunk coating the inside surfaces) and that our 30+ year window life was extraordinary. And in the commercial aviation industry, passenger jets have a service life on the fuselage because every flight involves pressurization of about 8psi, and the aluminum skin inflates and deflates like a balloon and eventually fatigues. And of course we know that those wonderful lithium-ion cells used in our laptops and Teslas begin to age the minute they are manufactured, regardless of use.

So now we add capacitors to that category.
Steve Mann wrote on 12/19/2014, 9:36 PM
"Espionage" is a stretch for some bungling thieves.

It was a bungled theft, not espionage, add the American manufacturers who seriously compounded the problem by continuing to ship PC's with the faulty components.
Soniclight wrote on 12/20/2014, 7:35 AM
Chienworks wrote...

"10 year consumer warranty"

Note that the warranty will only provide for replacement or refund of the physical drive itself, not the data contained therein! So, don't take that warranty as an excuse to not bother making backups. Worry not, I'm a OS and other backups-compulsive. Aside from an emergency OS with True Image/TI* on regular non-SSD drive that's unplugged in my bay except when needed, I also have a bootable TI (*technically Seagate TI DiskWizard disk; I don't care for the bloated paid-for versions; paid for 2 upgrades than stopped in 2011). It works, that's all that matters to me. I also keep 2-3 sequential full OS backups just in case one gets corrupted.
Len Kaufman wrote on 12/20/2014, 11:32 AM
It's pretty well established that putting batteries in the fridge does nothing to extend their life. The following two quotes are from Snopes.com.
Says Duracell about this belief:
Question
Should I store my batteries in the refrigerator or freezer?

Answer
We recommend storing batteries at room temperature in a dry environment. Extreme heat or cold reduces battery performance. You'll want to avoid putting battery-powered devices in very warm places. In addition, refrigeration is not necessary or recommended.
As does Energizer:
1. Is it a good idea to store batteries in a refrigerator or freezer?

No, storage in a refrigerator or freezer is not required or recommended for batteries produced today. Cold temperature storage can in fact harm batteries if condensation results in corroded contacts or label or seal damage due to extreme temperature storage. To maximize performance and shelf life, store batteries at normal room temperatures (68°F to 78°F or 20°C to 25°C) with moderated humidity levels (35 to 65% RH).

Read more at http://www.snopes.com/oldwives/battery.asp#6ZgAwIfxOQHeU7hj.99
johnmeyer wrote on 12/20/2014, 1:14 PM
It's pretty well established that putting batteries in the fridge does nothing to extend their life. I've been doing this all my life, and I've recommended it to others. However, after reading the Snopes post, I went on a search of my own, looking for actual tests, as well as advice from the battery manufacturers.

Bottom line, it looks like you are right, and I've been wrong all these years.

The good news (for me) is that keeping them in the refrigerator really doesn't harm them or make them any worse (according to the battery companies), other than possible corrosion (I've never seen this) and other than the fact you have to let them warm up before you can get full power from them (this I already knew).

Of all the articles I just read, the one that I found most interesting and useful came from a survivalist site. I know a few survivalists, and they take this sort of thing very seriously (almost as seriously as their firearm training, but that's another story). Here's the article I found:

Storing Household Batteries for the Long Term

His results showed an imperceptible (literally, almost nothing) improvement in run time from the batteries stored in the fridge (the freezer is a big no-no), but not enough to make the practice worthwhile.

The one thing I did find is that if you store the batteries in a hot room (un-airconditioned in the summer), that will make them deteriorate a little faster.

One final note: I still find that batteries leak when fully discharged, so that problem remains, and you should try to remember to check all your remote controls, seldom-used flashlights, etc. and put those batteries in your tester to make sure they are still viable. Just last month, I spent almost an hour trying to extract two AAAA batteries from a small long-neck flexible light that I use only once in awhile to get light inside of spaces only accessible via a tiny hole. The batteries had expanded and leaked. I finally had to drill through them with a special extra-long drill bit, and then use a dentist tool to hook into the hole and pull upwards.