Ask HN: What does one look for in a laptop these days? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What does one look for in a laptop these days?

#141

Post by mrweasel » Sat, Oct 16, 2021, 8:49 AM UTC

michalf6 wrote: post #71

1) Maxed-out battery (90-100WH) 2) Low-TDP modern CPU, ideally Ryzen 3) Bright, hi-res screen There is nothing on the market that offers this. M1 mac is the closest option, but Apple shouldn't be given money. I'm currently on a Thinkpad T480.

You’re on a ThinkPad, I’d rather not give Lenovo any money until they sort out the slave labour problems.

Re: Ask HN: What does one look for in a laptop these days?

#142

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Oct 16, 2021, 8:50 AM UTC

foobarbaz33 wrote: post #119

> if I'm missing on any new developments since 2015 Yes, you missed something huge. Apple Silicon M1 or nothing. It's just too good. Low power consumption allows the laptop to actually be used as a laptop. The power use-to-performance ratio is unmatched by anything on the market. Apple is breaking us free from decades of stagnation on the hardware front. Nothing else on the market comes close. I expect this to change…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: What does one look for in a laptop these days?

#143

Post by gundamdoubleO » Sat, Oct 16, 2021, 8:52 AM UTC

A slim design, good screen and doesn't sound like a jet engine when under a heavy load are my main factors. Battery isn't as much of a concern to me, 99% of the time I work with my laptop at a desk connected to power and a monitor etc.

Repairability and customisability are also usually on my mind so anything Apple is completely out of the question despite their machines ticking most of my boxes.

Maybe that will change if right to repair laws in the EU improve but that's not a something I'm expecting to happen anytime soon.

Re: Ask HN: What does one look for in a laptop these days?

#144

Post by xupybd » Sat, Oct 16, 2021, 8:52 AM UTC

I have a dirt cheap Chinese laptop. It's branded as an Infinity o5. It's a Ryzen with no flashy features, the simplest bios I've ever seen. I love it. I'd recommend it to anyone.

Re: Ask HN: What does one look for in a laptop these days?

#145

Post by HanaShiratori » Sat, Oct 16, 2021, 8:53 AM UTC

Just a portable (13—14 inch) device that has a powerful, but efficient CPU, supports Linux and has a dedicated GPU for occasional gaming / video editing.

I bought the Asus G14 over a year ago and this model fits my needs most - at least back then, things have probably changed until now...

Re: Ask HN: What does one look for in a laptop these days?

#146

Post by shocks » Sat, Oct 16, 2021, 8:59 AM UTC

* AMD cpu that supports S3 sleep

* At least 16GB of RAM

* 1kg auw

* 16:10 screen, that’s not 4k

* 14”

* Metal body

* Repairable

* NVMe ssd (not soldered)

* USB-C charging (and video etc)

* No gamer LEDs

If someone has any suggestions I’d love to hear them!

Re: Ask HN: What does one look for in a laptop these days?

#147

Post by zfxfr » Sat, Oct 16, 2021, 8:59 AM UTC

When I bought mine a couple of years ago I wanted a machine with enough computing power for my needs.. I did not care much about the hardware but I wanted a laptop sold without any OS. (no Windows) depending on where you live and if you want it in 48 hours it is apparently something not so easy to find.

Re: Ask HN: What does one look for in a laptop these days?

#148

Post by Leherenn » Sat, Oct 16, 2021, 9:03 AM UTC

foobarbaz33 wrote: post #119

> if I'm missing on any new developments since 2015 Yes, you missed something huge. Apple Silicon M1 or nothing. It's just too good. Low power consumption allows the laptop to actually be used as a laptop. The power use-to-performance ratio is unmatched by anything on the market. Apple is breaking us free from decades of stagnation on the hardware front. Nothing else on the market comes close. I expect this to change…

Is ARM really the reason the M1 is so much better than the current x86 CPUs? If you have a look at the competition (Qualcomm), it sounds to me that it's Apple expertise at designing a SoC and using a more advanced node that makes it such a good CPU, not really the architecture.

Said another way, I highly doubt we will see a non-Apple ARM CPU outclass the x86 competition in such a way anytime soon, so saying "never x86 again" might not be very wise. ARM is not a magic bullet.

Re: Ask HN: What does one look for in a laptop these days?

#149

Post by habibur » Sat, Oct 16, 2021, 9:05 AM UTC

I check for the following three only.

  + 3.5GHz WiFi.
  + Backlit keyboard.
  + Nvidia graphics card for ML.

The rest are mostly common in all laptops.

Re: Ask HN: What does one look for in a laptop these days?

#150

Post by reacharavindh » Sat, Oct 16, 2021, 9:08 AM UTC

mstaoru wrote: post #90

michalf6 wrote: post #71

1) Maxed-out battery (90-100WH) 2) Low-TDP modern CPU, ideally Ryzen 3) Bright, hi-res screen There is nothing on the market that offers this. M1 mac is the closest option, but Apple shouldn't be given money. I'm currently on a Thinkpad T480.

Asus Vivobook 16X OLED? 1) 94 Wh battery 2) R7 5800h / R9 5800hx 3) 4K OLED screen that goes to 550

I think this is going to be my next work laptop. I have been eyeing the new M1X mac, but the attraction of Linux is too high on me. I will decide after Apple releases their better M1…