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Ask HN: Any good Macbook Air alternatives?

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Re: Ask HN: Any good Macbook Air alternatives?

#121

Post by blinkingled »

georgieporgie wrote: post #120
pyre wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Elegant is subjective. It's better to talk about things like specs, issues, OS support, etc, and let people decide on the aesthetics themselves. Arguing over which design is more pleasing on the eye (or elegant) adds nothing to the discussion. The original post suggesting the X220 listed a bunch of specs that it had (and that the poster needed) that the MacBook Air didn't. A response of, "Disregard that the design su…

Elegant is subjective. I think you would be hard pressed to find someone who honestly believes a Thinkpad to be more elegant than a Macbook Air. A response of, "Disregard that the design sucks cocks," Excuse me?

How much elegant is good enough or to what degree that is a concern is subjective. GP did not specify that elegance was the sole criteria which means he/she is probably ok with a fairly elegant machine within same ballpark of the Air - which the x220 is.

The x220 certainly ain't ugly - it is thin, lightweight and durable. Many prefer the Thinkpad design. So even if for you personally elegance may be the first/only priority without override - many people are not that obsessive when it comes to choosing a work laptop.

So the X220 is certainly a choice when you are thinking Macbook Air. The screen size falls nicely between the too small 11" and a bit too big 13.3", the CPUs are same gen, SSD is configurable etc.

Re: Ask HN: Any good Macbook Air alternatives?

#122

Post by phamilton »

zobzu wrote: post #58

I have a Sony Vaio Z21. So alright alright, it's not, cheap. It's not in the same ball park as the MBA on the performance side (it annihilates it) But! - it's slightly lighter than the MBA - its just as thin and compact - it has a gorgeous screen that also doesnt reflects everything instead of showing you content - it runs linux just fine - you can plug a lightpeak graphic card if you like - the SSD's are extremely,…

BS on the SSD speeds.

6 gbps SATA with 8/10 encoding (standard SATA) means the bus is saturated at 600MB/s.

Re: Ask HN: Any good Macbook Air alternatives?

#123

Post by davidf18 »

fgumo wrote: post #115
davidf18 wrote: post #81

X201s, a previous model to the X220 (along with the non "s" X201) has a higher resolution display (1440x900 same res as Mac Air 13) than the X220 (1366x766) and weighs about 1/2 lb less than the X220. Loaded with SSD and 8 GB RAM it is my preference over the X220. If a 12.5" screen vs. the Mac Air 13.3" screen works for needs then you might consider this machine. The Thinkpad Trackpoint is great once you get used to…

Lenovo Thinkpad X1 has 13,3" and a full powered processor. If you want even bigger you can go with a T420 (14"), which is more similar to the X220 but with a media unit.

Alas the X1 at 13.3" has only the low resolution 1366x768 display and weighs 3.7 lbs and has less battery life than the Mac Air 13.3" which as the higher res 1440x900, weighs 3 lbs and has longer battery life. Lenovo did not update their "Mac Air" which was the X301. Sadly, like early (pre-2010) versions of the Mac Air it is underpowered (1.4 GHz ULV processor) but it did have the 1440x900 13.3" display. Pity Lenovo did not come out with the update to the X301 using the same processor, screen as the Mac Air.

Re: Ask HN: Any good Macbook Air alternatives?

#124

Post by glimcat »

bsphil wrote: post #89
daniel_solano wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, it's typical Thinkpad design, and Lenovo doesn't compete based on looks. I suppose if style is the main consideration when purchasing a computer, Apple is hard to beat.

I'd have a hard time believing that style would be the main consideration if it's going to be a work laptop. Though I suppose to be fair, the OP never specified.

Style is actually a primary consideration in the design of the Thinkpad line. It's not enough to be reliable, it also has to look reliable.

People complaining about the design are often failing to correctly identify the intended user.

Re: Ask HN: Any good Macbook Air alternatives?

#125

Post by georgieporgie »

blinkingled wrote: post #121
georgieporgie wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Elegant is subjective. I think you would be hard pressed to find someone who honestly believes a Thinkpad to be more elegant than a Macbook Air. A response of, "Disregard that the design sucks cocks," Excuse me?

How much elegant is good enough or to what degree that is a concern is subjective. GP did not specify that elegance was the sole criteria which means he/she is probably ok with a fairly elegant machine within same ballpark of the Air - which the x220 is. The x220 certainly ain't ugly - it is thin, lightweight and durable. Many prefer the Thinkpad design. So even if for you personally elegance may be the first/only pr…

So even if for you personally elegance may be the first/only priority without override

Okay, I'm genuinely curious here. What's with all the strange, reactionary posts in this thread, and mis-categorization of people? When did I say anything about elegance being my first priority? I was quite clear in my statement, yet you've skewed it in a bizarre manner.

many people are not that obsessive when it comes to choosing a work laptop

Obsessive? How about appreciative? In fact, how about any word which isn't loaded? Again, there is some strange, defensive stuff going on here.

Re: Ask HN: Any good Macbook Air alternatives?

#126

Post by pyre »

georgieporgie wrote: post #120
pyre wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Elegant is subjective. It's better to talk about things like specs, issues, OS support, etc, and let people decide on the aesthetics themselves. Arguing over which design is more pleasing on the eye (or elegant) adds nothing to the discussion. The original post suggesting the X220 listed a bunch of specs that it had (and that the poster needed) that the MacBook Air didn't. A response of, "Disregard that the design su…

Elegant is subjective. I think you would be hard pressed to find someone who honestly believes a Thinkpad to be more elegant than a Macbook Air. A response of, "Disregard that the design sucks cocks," Excuse me?

  > > A response of, "Disregard that the design sucks cocks,"
  >
  > Excuse me?
Sorry, my (previous) 4chan roots showing through:

http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/disregard-that-i-suck-cocks#.T...

My point was that the responder at the top of the thread was saying (in so many words):

  ignore all of that so-called 'content' in the parent
  post, my (subjective) ideas about the design should
  trump all of that

Re: Ask HN: Any good Macbook Air alternatives?

#127

Post by sjs »

ToastOpt wrote: post #112
sjs wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I use Windows I feel like everything is inside a damn context menu that's difficult to access with the keyboard. (imo of course) OS X beats Linux for keyboard shortcuts because they are more consistent. My ranking is: 1. OS X, 2. Linux, 3. Windows. I'm a keyboard junkie, to a fault sometimes, but I find that I use the trackpad on my MacBook quite a bit because it's so useful with all the gestures and such.

> context menu that's difficult to access with the keyboard Hmm, I guess you're right. Without the dedicated context menu key, you have to use SHIFT+F10. That's a pain.

Yes cumbersome would have been a better word than difficult. Once open it's pretty straightforward to navigate, though I really wish you could type the name of any menu item and jump to it like you can on OS X. If there's no alt shortcut on Windows you have to use the arrow keys which are off the home row, which still disrupts me every so slightly.

Re: Ask HN: Any good Macbook Air alternatives?

#128

Post by diziet »

Goladus wrote: post #25

This isn't a recommendation, as I am not a customer, but System76 offers a "Lemur Ultrathin" model: http://www.system76.com/product_info.php?cPath=28&produc... Here's a review: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1610568

The specs and prices of upgrades for things like ram/cpu are really impressive!

Re: Ask HN: Any good Macbook Air alternatives?

#129

Post by puredemo »

georgieporgie wrote: post #125
blinkingled wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How much elegant is good enough or to what degree that is a concern is subjective. GP did not specify that elegance was the sole criteria which means he/she is probably ok with a fairly elegant machine within same ballpark of the Air - which the x220 is. The x220 certainly ain't ugly - it is thin, lightweight and durable. Many prefer the Thinkpad design. So even if for you personally elegance may be the first/only pr…

So even if for you personally elegance may be the first/only priority without override Okay, I'm genuinely curious here. What's with all the strange, reactionary posts in this thread, and mis-categorization of people? When did I say anything about elegance being my first priority? I was quite clear in my statement, yet you've skewed it in a bizarre manner. many people are not that obsessive when it comes to choosing…

Indeed. I've been reading a lot of responses thinking the same thing.

Re: Ask HN: Any good Macbook Air alternatives?

#130

Post by plantain »

phamilton wrote: post #122
zobzu wrote: post #58

I have a Sony Vaio Z21. So alright alright, it's not, cheap. It's not in the same ball park as the MBA on the performance side (it annihilates it) But! - it's slightly lighter than the MBA - its just as thin and compact - it has a gorgeous screen that also doesnt reflects everything instead of showing you content - it runs linux just fine - you can plug a lightpeak graphic card if you like - the SSD's are extremely,…

BS on the SSD speeds. 6 gbps SATA with 8/10 encoding (standard SATA) means the bus is saturated at 600MB/s.

Depending on his configuration they come in 2way and 4way RAID-0, so those numbers are potentially feasible.
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