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Ask HN: MacBooks seems to be the only viable option these days

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Re: Ask HN: MacBooks seems to be the only viable option these days

#141

Post by jaffe21 »

everyone wrote: post #97
uniqueuid wrote: post #24

I may be an outlier, but for me, the problem with non-mac machines is that they seem just careless. Steve jobs famously said "The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste.", and this seems true to me for almost all hardware manufacturers, and to a larger degree still for software. Why does nobody care about creaking plastic? About sticky-feeling texture? About uneven weight distribution? About the sound…

Jewellery is a great analogy imo. Apple is a jewellery company imo. They sell expensive, shiny, conspicuous consumption items without practical use. I was shocked when I found out that macs are popular among people who actually work with computers and even make software. It will never cease to shock me. The only explanation I can think of is that this is a USA social class thing. In the USA the upper classes have App…

>> I was shocked when I found out that macs are popular among people who actually work with computers and even make software. It will never cease to shock me.

Yeah, wtf. It's not like people that build software for a living know anything about computers right?!

Re: Ask HN: MacBooks seems to be the only viable option these days

#142

Post by JRKrause »

I am still using a 2011 macbook pro I got for free ~7 years ago. It had a bad GPU and Apple replaced the internals for free in 2016? I think. Only problem now is some newer software doesn't like that I am stuck on an older version of IOS. Everything else is perfect (at least for the fact that it needs a new battery every 1.5 years or so, only garbage quality ones available for this model aftermarket now).

Re: Ask HN: MacBooks seems to be the only viable option these days

#143

Post by dclowd9901 »

uniqueuid wrote: post #87
kmeisthax wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because every other computer manufacturer realized they can save on the BOM cost by shoving the whole computer under plastic gingerbread. That weight distribution? It'd cost way too much to redesign the product correctly. Flickering redraws? We don't make the OS, we just sell Microsoft's. Occasionally you do see PC OEMs that try for taste in the Windows ecosystem. Sony did that with their VAIO laptops, with the somew…

All true, but why is the culture and aesthetic of computers inherently trashy? Look at all the fields where superior quality is a completely natural criterion (whether it exists may be another question): Watches, cars, pens, paper notebooks, furniture, fashion, jewellery, architecture, bikes, coffee machines ... What's more - if you look at the visual representations of computers - i.e. marketing material, art, illus…

Computer design aesthetics are a relatively new concept and not one that’s deeply explored or appreciated, and certainly not at the level of other physical designs (cars, watches, clothing, so on).

I think many of us here really appreciate the beauty of Cray Mainframes and Apple hardware, but computers are so associated with work and utilitarianism, I think they’ve often been overlooked for their value as design pieces. I mean, brutalist architecture is a thing, so it’s probably just a matter of time.

Re: Ask HN: MacBooks seems to be the only viable option these days

#144

Post by brimble »

AA-BA-94-2A-56 wrote: post #128
bsder wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why does nobody care about the janky Bluetooth mouse that's only janky on macOS? Why does nobody care that my USB 2.0 ports on my external USB-C docks die in about 20 minutes necessitating a reboot--again, only on macOS (and only on newer macOS versions--old ones work fine). How many years did it take Apple to (sort of) fix their shittastic keyboards? How garbagey is Xcode relative to any other IDE nowadays? I can go…

I'm going to offer a dissenting opinion. I don't have the same issues you do with janky mice and USB 2.0 ports. I owned a previous Macbook Air with a "shittastic" keyboard and never had an issue– although I'm glad I now have the new M1 with a better keyboard. > Macbooks may look pretty, but the software has been becoming increasingly garbage. I had the unfortunate displeasure of being issued a top of the line Windows…

> Linux is an incredible family of operating systems. Every few years I will try downloading and installing a few distros. I always run into issues with GPUs, sound cards, and WiFi. Once I get past those, I run into different sets of issues. One that sticks with me is the awful nested menus in XCFE.

I was a linux-on-the-desktop user for about a decade before switching to Mac, and like you, I try Linux out again from time to time. My experience is similar: I hit stuff I just don't have the time or patience to deal with anymore, every single time. Looking back, it only ever seemed good because I was somehow blind to how much time I was losing, and I'd learned to work around or ignore a bunch of broken stuff on my systems.

Re: Ask HN: MacBooks seems to be the only viable option these days

#145

Post by downrightmike »

FpUser wrote: post #45

I have few laptops by Asus and HP. All work like a charm and were cheap for what they offer. The oldest ASUS still in use after some 10 years. Runs some specialized control applications. Should I create a post and title it "ASUS laptops seems to be the only viable option these days"

Clearly

Re: Ask HN: MacBooks seems to be the only viable option these days

#146

Post by gourneau »

nimbius wrote: post #73

not to sound like a curmudgeon but I for one will be in the cold cold ground before I ever declare macbook as the only viable option. hackers are working hard on really cool daily driver laptops that respect your freedom and work to deliver an excellent computing experience. system76 offers a good balance of performance and value: https://system76.com/laptops pinebook offers a competitive and cheap arm daily driver:…

The new Tensorbook also looks like it has a high build quality.

https://lambdalabs.com/deep-learning/laptops/tensorbook

Re: Ask HN: MacBooks seems to be the only viable option these days

#147

Post by sascha_sl »

uniqueuid wrote: post #24

I may be an outlier, but for me, the problem with non-mac machines is that they seem just careless. Steve jobs famously said "The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste.", and this seems true to me for almost all hardware manufacturers, and to a larger degree still for software. Why does nobody care about creaking plastic? About sticky-feeling texture? About uneven weight distribution? About the sound…

Yes.

I own a very expensive 2021 gaming laptop / mobile workstation-ish laptop from Lenovo. A ton of people who have it have had issues with the touchpad getting unresponsive. I could fix for the most part by using a 300W brick over a 240W (don't ask me how, that must be a very interesting power delivery system, or maybe the battery controller is interrupt storming, what do I know).

Lenovo's response has been to say they're aware of the issue, and otherwise ignore it / replace entire top shells only for the problem to return 2 weeks later.

I also have a T495, a machine that absolutely should never have been released with the C-States it has. While AMD has issued a patch for them, Lenovo has not bothered to provide a BIOS revision that fixes it. Support for these products is essentially minimal to dead upon release.

It feels like every OEM has become MediaTek.

Re: Ask HN: MacBooks seems to be the only viable option these days

#148

Post by varunprasad »

bsder wrote: post #84
uniqueuid wrote: post #24

I may be an outlier, but for me, the problem with non-mac machines is that they seem just careless. Steve jobs famously said "The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste.", and this seems true to me for almost all hardware manufacturers, and to a larger degree still for software. Why does nobody care about creaking plastic? About sticky-feeling texture? About uneven weight distribution? About the sound…

Why does nobody care about the janky Bluetooth mouse that's only janky on macOS? Why does nobody care that my USB 2.0 ports on my external USB-C docks die in about 20 minutes necessitating a reboot--again, only on macOS (and only on newer macOS versions--old ones work fine). How many years did it take Apple to (sort of) fix their shittastic keyboards? How garbagey is Xcode relative to any other IDE nowadays? I can go…

macOS for many years now has been inferior to Windows, IMO.

Re: Ask HN: MacBooks seems to be the only viable option these days

#149

Post by IE6 »

FWIW I bought a new Framework laptop and it's worked perfectly with Ubuntu since day 1 YMMV - a major advantage of Framework over other brands is down the road if a component breaks I have a higher probability of being able to replace it as compared to most anything else (think: like an old thinkpad)

Re: Ask HN: MacBooks seems to be the only viable option these days

#150

Post by civilized »

zitterbewegung wrote: post #110
uniqueuid wrote: post #24

I may be an outlier, but for me, the problem with non-mac machines is that they seem just careless. Steve jobs famously said "The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste.", and this seems true to me for almost all hardware manufacturers, and to a larger degree still for software. Why does nobody care about creaking plastic? About sticky-feeling texture? About uneven weight distribution? About the sound…

Apple's taste and the ways they do things makes you love / hate your experience and your judgement of whether you should buy their product. The company is position as "we know what's best for you" and you can see this along their product line. General PC makers have a carefree attitude where here is what you want and they will give you the specs and it works however you want. Which means sometimes you will have to de…

> General PC makers have a carefree attitude where here is what you want and they will give you the specs and it works however you want. Which means sometimes you will have to deal with managing your own experience.

You can't get whatever you want though. You can't get a machine with remotely the look and feel of a MBP. You have lots and lots of mediocre choices and no really good ones.

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