u/Toasty_Oak76

Sadly my college doesn't support Mac systems so im looking for a reliable laptop I can save up and get for college that will last I was thinking possibly a Lenovo yoga?

I’m looking at getting my first MacBook and I’m trying to decide between the MacBook Neo and the MacBook Air. I’m starting online community college soon and eventually plan on transferring to a university for a Master’s or possibly a PhD in wildlife biology. I also run a small fishing YouTube channel, so I’d like something that can handle light video editing and content management as well.

I want something reliable that will last me through school and still give me good performance without overspending. MacBooks honestly seem perfect for what I need, but I’m not sure which model would be the better value for my situation. Would the Neo be enough, or would the Air be the smarter long-term investme

I’m starting online community college this August and then transferring to a larger university later on for a wildlife biology degree. I’ve always used Windows since I already have a pretty powerful gaming PC at home, so I’m way more comfortable with that ecosystem. Macs honestly intimidate me because I’ve never had a great experience with them.

I’m looking for laptop recommendations that are:

Portable enough for classes/travel

Reliable with good battery life

Powerful enough for schoolwork and some video editing

Good for managing a website and helping run a YouTube channel

Preferably Windows

I don’t necessarily need a full gaming laptop since I already have a desktop for that, but I also don’t want something super underpowered that’ll struggle after a couple years.

I’ll probably be multitasking a lot with research, editing, content uploads, and normal college work, so I’d like something that can comfortably handle all of that long term.

What laptops have you guys had good experiences with for college and light creative work? Budget is flexible if it’s something that’ll last me through university.

Got a free PC but it’s acting super weird — upgrade or fix?

So I got this PC for free and I’m trying to figure out if it’s worth upgrading or if something’s just messed up.

Specs:

RTX 3080 (PNY)

Ryzen 7 3700X

48GB DDR4 RAM

ASRock motherboard (pretty sure it says “B550” on it but not 100% sure)

Problems:

Wired headphones and speakers just won’t work at all

Took me like 5 days just to get my keyboard working, even after reinstalling Windows

Random frame drops in games for no obvious reason

It doesn’t feel like a performance issue — it feels like something is just broken, but I’m not sure what.

Is this worth upgrading (CPU/mobo), or does this sound like a hardware/driver issue I should troubleshoot first?

Also — how do I actually check what exact motherboard I have?

I heard to not use any kind of rope in self watering pots and just do a quarter of the pon semerged in water would that work better?