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Previously Used Devices and/or Software

Older Computers I used (and no longer own)

Some 13" MBPs

I owe it to my dad for gifting me my first MBP after doing well in my Secondary 3 exams (PMR) - that 13" MBP Late 2011 got me through my remaining years of secondary school while also budding my interest in video editing at the time. Later during my college years, I used a 13" MBP Mid 2014 which lasted me until I finished my Computer Science undergraduate studies. Both these models had an Intel Core i5 Processor, 8GB of RAM (an amount I no longer recommend now since 2024) and 512GB of storage (used to be the maximum configuration, now a base). They also lasted me roughly 4 years before being replaced. Those were the last computers I was granted by my parents back then, I now purchase my own devices (and I very much like being responsible for my own device purchases 😝).

My First 16" G.O.A.T.

The previous MBP I owned before switching to my current one was the Space Grey 16" MBP 2019 with the following specifications:

  • 2.3GHz 8‑core Intel Core i9
  • AMD Radeon Pro 5500M 8 GB
  • 32GB of 2666MHz DDR4 RAM
  • 2TB storage

Having a larger screen is a luxury that can easily turned into a working benefit, especially for me being able to view more code at once while working on my projects or grading students' submissions at the time.

This one lasted me a whopping 5.5 years.

Walao1, so long one?

I know there are some who would strongly discourage keeping your devices for very long periods of time, and instead replace them every couple of years (while selling off the older one in the process). In a Mac's case where their value holds relatively well compared to Windows devices, at least 3-4 years was recommended. I think this is a smarter move nearly all the time - even I felt stupid at times having the resolve of keeping my devices and having only sold 1 of them before. Had I done this more often, I could recoup some of the cost I dedicated towards that machine in exchange for not having one more paperweight in my possession.

However, I think this would be good only if you are sure you will be well-to-do in the foreseeable future. Given how unstable the economic situation is right now and also how geopolitical tensions have caused ripple effects that are felt by all of us (currently RAM prices are spinning out of control (even at home for me), no thanks to the AI craze), I think this habit similar to job-hopping has become more and more of a luxury. We definitely want the very best for ourselves, but unless it's an actual necessity I think we ought to practice some gratefulness for what we can still manage to achieve. I currently live in a country where human capital is the main valuable resource, but I do question if being first in everything constantly has any ulterior benefits over not being so. Maybe it's just how I was raised - to keep using what we have until it's at its knees before switching over.

At least for me, I guess I also wanted to wait out the transition period and only jump into an Apple Silicon device when just about anything and everything I used is fully compatible with that hardware architecture. During my time teaching web development in Taylor's College, I came across many a student who needed some extra guidance or alternatives since their devices were not fully compatible with software that I recommended during that time. Troubleshooting a problem I couldn't replicate on my then Intel MBP became some sort of a whack-a-mole challenge, trying out solution after solution I searched up online at the time. At the same time, while I initially had intentions for booting up various virtual machines for research with this MBP, my workflow had shifted towards those more in line with my teaching work, and later my cybersecurity studies in NTU - the latter of which allowed me to be grateful yet again for having a machine capable of running something that was otherwise still incompatible with Apple Silicon at the time. Looking back, I think I'm grateful I waited much, much longer than I should have before getting my current MBP.

Dell XPS 9305 (2020)

At some point during the pandemic in 2021, I wanted to have a Windows machine to play some of the older games I used to play during my childhood days. I went with this Dell laptop simply because I only had experience owning such a machine, and I was still under the impression that Dell is still the best choice given their good reputation with service support. I later sold it for just slightly under half price (I sold it for RM2000) a year later to then purchase my Lenovo Legion 5i.

  • Windows 10 Home (64bit) Single Language English
  • 13.3" FHD (1920 x 1080) InfinityEdge Non-Touch display
  • 11th Generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-1135G7 Processor (8MB Cache, up to 4.2 GHz)
  • 8GB 4267MHz LPDDR4x Memory Onboard
  • 512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe Solid State Drive

Some Other Software I Used Before

Programming and Software Development

Eclipse IDE (Java)

Java was one of the first programming languages I learnt back when I started my Foundation in Computing (FIC) days in Taylor's. I don't remember what I used at the time, though. No shade to the lecturer, but I think it was tough when all I just had to do was memorize code without actually understanding the logic behind it.. especially when both the lab questions and their repsective answers were available to us from the start.

I first learnt Java properly during my second year of my undergraduate studies for my Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming (ITS60804) course. I had an excellent lecturer for this one and what I'd dub the "Part 2" of the course (i.e., ITS61004).. shout out to Ms. Sarojini (or Dr., right now), wherever you are! You're definitely one of the best no-nonsense lecturers I've had during my undergraduate years! 😊

During this time, her tool of choice was the Eclipse IDE (specifically, Eclipse IDE for Java Developers). I was quite satisfied with this tool, and at the time I was already aware (I just don't know how) that it's an IDE that was actively used in the industry. Later on during my failed attempt at a Master's by Research degree, I had to learn how to configure a specialized IDE that I believe was a fork of the Eclipse IDE but a C++ version and for networking.

There was another IDE at the time which some other lecturers in Taylor's recommended, which was Apache Netbeans. I just didn't like how it looked, and I thought there was no reason to switch when there were no obvious benefits. It was only when I first got introduced to Jetbrains' IntelliJ IDEA that I began to actively switch away from Eclipse during my final year - this was just because I thought it looked more modern and sleek. It was a lot more resource-intensive though, so for a time I would recommend Eclipse to those who just did not have computers that could withstand the demands of what IntelliJ IDEA could ask for.

If you'd like to try Eclipse IDE for Java Developers yourselves, I've left a Homebrew Terminal command for macOS. Not a bad tool, a good alternative, but I think I'm happy with IntelliJ IDEA for now.

Homebrew Install Command for Eclipse IDE for Java Developers
brew install --cask eclipse-java

Dev-C++ (C, C++)

Dev-C++ is a Windows-only IDE for C/C++ development. I don't really have much to say about this, but it was a little annoying that early on before I progressed into my first semester into my undergraduate studies, I thought the only way to program in C was on Windows. Without any option to use this on macOS without a Windows virtual machine, I just didn't spend enough time with it to get attached to it at all.

MySQL Workbench (MySQL)

Miscellaneous

Notability (iPadOS, Note-Taking)

  1. A common rojak term used in Malaysia and Singapore (the latter is part of the Singlish vocab). Refer this Wiktionary entry for more information about it. ↩