Worst computer hardware feature you have seen?

I'm not going into this too much since it's not the topic, but I have to add this.
RetroComputingCollector said:
I feel like the notion that the ME is a backdoor is a conspiracy theory. Many people (including me) screen their internet connection with whatever they have like a firewall or something, and have not noticed weird connections. I think it id a terrible design, which combined with RMS and his tinfoil-hat-brigade, has spooked people. That said, I think it is a security vulnerability, but not a secret NSA plot
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Very applicable here: I was an adventurer like you once, then I took an arrow to the knee ...
A few years ago I would have said the exact same thing (note that I never said anything about NSA or whatever). Then I found out the hard way that it's really important to either disable the thing completely (which is too hard and some parts are effectively necessary for booting the cpu and can't be 'fixed') or at the very least get it updated to the latest version - which hopefully contains security fixes.
In short: my router/firewall was (and actually still is) a regular PC connected directly to the internet. No connections to be witnessed that way ...
blackhole said:
You won't. It has full access to the TCP/IP stack and can send packets independently of the OS - bypassing any firewall.
Before you denounce its critics as "tinfoil hat", consider well what place this kind of tech has on a personal computer.
It also has full access to memory.
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This^ It is NOT necessary for running any PC. And each and every one of my servers has an IPMI (and most of them actually do not have an IME because of that).
Fun fact: I once heard about reprogramming the ME as a low-cost IPMI for consumer hardware, never looked into it though.
 
cracauer@ said:
What's the worst hardware feature on a laptop or PC that you've seen?
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A poor 2-in-1 feature (aka: being able to "fold" the screen 180 onto the back of the keyboard).

See: while the keyboard was "folded up" many A brands didn't stop to think about... well, I dunno: disabling said keyboard and additional features?

Note: I don't have personal experience. "sorta". => during the time of my story I needed "portable options" but I knew I wasn't going to use a laptop that much. I also didn't want to shell out for a tablet so... I got a cheap "lo end" 2-in-1 laptop. Medion. 6 years later it still works, while my friends i stuf.. let's not go there.

I had a problem! When using it as a tablet it would sometimes shut down? Turned out: when placed on my lap it was me who pushed the on/off button. So ... I told Windows to turn that off when not on net power.

... but I also looked into what other brands did. Yah: Dell, IBM... they all got it wrong and were met with tons of complaints. Because the folded up keyboard still responded, which is bad when grabbing your "tablet". Meanwhile my cheap Medion never had any issues ;)

In the mean time I found my way to Surface ("attachable keyboard to tablet"?) and well, never looked back.

But yah... 2 in 1 laptop, and then don't disable the keyboard... wht?
 
Ah yes

B

Post in thread 'Worst computer hardware feature you have seen?'

Those Lenovo laptops with foldback screens from about 10 years ago. It also works as a "tablet"... until the sensor which disables the keyboard in tablet mode decides to fail - then it only works as a tablet... a crappy gimmick, which you pay for and which means you've compromised on everything else (I have never owned one but have been asked to repair the things).
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On the plus side, the one I have now inherited, is still usable if I connect a monitor, keyboard and mouse...
 
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