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?

#251

Post by toastal » Sat, Oct 16, 2021, 11:50 AM UTC

I think the screen is what I look for the most. Its specs needed to be 1080p resolution, >95% DCI-P3 color gamut, prefer OLED, prefer touch-enabled

Also mattering was lightweight and easy to travel with (including power supply), respectable battery life, >=16GB RAM, processor preferring performance over price, Thunderbolt or USB4

In a different world, I would want something from an OEM with Linux focus, Coreboot, and repairable, but the screens on all of those machines are trash. Last year I picked up a ASUS Zenbook Flip and slapped NixOS on it. My only complaint is that the body isn’t very rigid and got crack in the glass (not over the display) when my bag fell from a shitty bathroom stall hook.

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

#252

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Oct 16, 2021, 11:53 AM UTC

tentacleuno wrote: post #249

grandpoobah wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was going to post the same thing (albeit far more poorly explained). Isn't Microsoft embarrassed about this? This has been an issue for my last two laptops over the last 5 years. How is it acceptable for this problem to still exist? My Lenovo supports S3 sleep, but I didn't discover it until probably a year into having bought it, so at that point my battery's ability to hold charge had already been sufficiently degra…

> if Visual Studio ran on Mac It is! What do you mean? :)

[deleted]

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

#253

Post by tyteen4a03 » Sat, Oct 16, 2021, 11:53 AM UTC

A beautiful UI that comes out of the box that I don't have to spend hours tinkering to get it just right. A Unix-like kernel (WSL2 comes pretty close). Not too bulky.

That realistically only leaves me with MacBook Pros.

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

#254

Post by tentacleuno » Sat, Oct 16, 2021, 11:53 AM UTC

Smithalicious wrote: post #166

0. Linux compatibility, I am not super picky about getting everything to work perfectly but I should be able to trust that the software I prefer to use will run and my laptop will connect to wifi and play audio properly and so on. 1. IPS screen (mostly a given nowadays, but this wasn't always so) 2. Trackpoint, I hate trackpads. Pretty rare option so I could possibly be convinced otherwise if the trackpad is particul…

> I could possibly be convinced otherwise if the trackpad is particularly good.

Genuine question: what about Macbook trackpads? We have a MBP 2013, and it runs leaps and bounds over my Windows laptop which came out in the same year. I'm not sure if other laptops have caught up with Apple yet, but Macbook trackpads are commonly referred to as the best in the business.

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

#255

Post by tudorw » Sat, Oct 16, 2021, 11:54 AM UTC

Can I drop it, that's number one for me over the years, imagine, your most important meeting, you need your laptop, you get there and it works, or it doesn't, the biggest factor out there in the 'real world' is can it handle real life, baggage gets thrown around without your choice, if it doesn't work when you need it then it doesn't matter how nice the keyboard is or the screen is :)

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

#256

Post by 5e92cb50239222b » Sat, Oct 16, 2021, 11:54 AM UTC

anothernewdude wrote: post #247

randomopining wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You pay $800 and you get your value. The market obviously decided that the value provided is good enough, since their sales are good. Just because you value certain things doesn't mean the collective does.

This is the market being insane though, because they pay a premium because of branding.

Which is especially hilarious in low-income countries like mine. The cheapest latest iPhone (I don't remember what the current number is) costs about 3 median monthly incomes. Most of the population cannot afford one, so what do you do? get a loan and pay in monthly installments until the next one comes out, of course.

This isn't a rare occurrence, I'd say ⅓ of my acquaintances do this. The power of marketing at its finest.

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

#257

Post by mavidser » Sat, Oct 16, 2021, 11:56 AM UTC

It feels like I have no laptop to choose form right now in the market, but here's what I'd like:

1. WiFi+Bluetooth and graphic cards which don't suck on Linux. No Broadcom or Nvidea.

2. Good body without any deck flex, and no flex in the trackpad either. Love the taptic keypads on macbooks.

3. Good power management. Since I expect to lose some battery performance running Linux, I'd prefer to have the laptop be slightly thicker rather than have a tiny battery backup. Also, S3 suspend.

3. Both USB-C and USB-A ports. Preferabel HDMI, full-size SD card reader too.

4. Upgradable RAM and SSD. This is a major one, as I've often doubled the life of my devices by increasing the memory a couple of years into the machine.

5. No 16:9 displays. Nope. Too tiny. At least 16:10. Never used 3:2 but shouldn't be too bad. And they should be able to get bright enough.

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

#258

Post by willjp » Sat, Oct 16, 2021, 11:56 AM UTC

1. Hardware driver support in Linux/bsd. I’ll never suffer another broadcom wireless nic.

2. Accessibility of hardware. Is it easy to open and swap parts? Or do you need to dismantle the whole thing?

3. Availability of replacement parts, and history of availability. Ram/HDDs/NICs are universal. Screens, keyboards trackpads are not.

4. Runs off battery? Or adapter when plugged in. In a few years when the battery is toast, will this be a brick?

5. Everything else.

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

#259

Post by 5e92cb50239222b » Sat, Oct 16, 2021, 11:56 AM UTC

emteycz wrote: post #197

wheybags wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You dismiss 20 years of darkness like it's nothing...

PC-compatible hardware and software is not going anywhere...

Until everyone stops buying it and it becomes a premium thing which the little man like myself simply cannot afford.

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

#260

Post by sk0g » Sat, Oct 16, 2021, 12:00 PM UTC

tentacleuno wrote: post #249

grandpoobah wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was going to post the same thing (albeit far more poorly explained). Isn't Microsoft embarrassed about this? This has been an issue for my last two laptops over the last 5 years. How is it acceptable for this problem to still exist? My Lenovo supports S3 sleep, but I didn't discover it until probably a year into having bought it, so at that point my battery's ability to hold charge had already been sufficiently degra…

> if Visual Studio ran on Mac It is! What do you mean? :)

The Mac version of Visual Studio is closer to a fork of MonoDevelop than mainline VS. Rider is a better experience than either though, IMO.