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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

#411

Post by aiisjustanif »

lewispollard wrote: post #353
smeej wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think in this thread it's worth pointing out that it doesn't work well with even a very common Linux distro. For someone who's considering a MacBook the primary viable alternative, I'm just trying to point out that it's a long way from a smooth experience on a refined product.

Sure, at the same time it's worth pointing out that anyone who wants to buy a laptop to run Linux on it full time should be using a Linux distro which provides up to date packages.

Can you provide a short list of those distros you recommend with up to date packages?

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

#412

Post by asiachick »

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 doesn't Apple care about software quality?

12.3 broke copying large files (200mb+) from the finder to network shares (files get corrupted, bad data). Copy from terminal with cp, no issue.

12.3 broke airplay

iOS 15.3 broke WebGL, tons of sites that rely on it are effed, (can't ask users to use a different browser on iOS)

All 3 issues, 6 weeks+ still unfixed.

etc....

PS: not saying that MS does better but "It just works" Apple is never actually true

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

#413

Post by vetinari »

llampx wrote: post #403
vetinari wrote: post #349

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Currently, getting a latest Ryzen 5000 APU laptop can very easily last you 10 years or more You never know. I have an AMD TR 1900X CPU (launched in August 2017) in a box, since Windows 11 doesn't run on it.

This sounds so wrong tbh, first that you would get a 1900X which was the smallest Threadripper, and that you would then use it in an application which doesn't use all of its PCIe lanes, which is what differentiated it from the 8-core Ryzens. May I ask, why you need to run Windows 11?

I didn't need many cores; but I needed the PCIe lanes. 1900X was perfect for that. I don't follow, how did you figure that my application doesn't use all of its PCIe lanes?

Another thing was, that since there were less cores and the thermal capacity was the same as the bigger siblings, the cores were clocked slightly higher (3.8 GHz base frequency).

Eventually, I got one of last 2920X for a good price. I got more, but slower cores and it still works in the X399 board I used with 1900X.

---

I actually do not need to run 11 yet. But eventually, it will come.

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

#414

Post by gamblor956 »

Coming to this discussion late, but at my last job they had to ban employees from using Macbooks outside of the office because they were too fragile compared to their (heavier but) sturdier PC counterparts running Windows or Linux.

The Macbooks generally spent more time being shipped to and from Apple warranty centers for repairs then they did being used for work.

Maybe we were just unlucky, but it says something when more than 4 dozen Macbooks were utter pieces of crap.

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

#415

Post by throwaway67743 »

The current state of general pc (x86) machines has been awful for some time but a Mac is infinitely worse IMO, awful keyboards, fragile design, useless OS for anything except basics but there are a number of reasonable machines out there just overpriced (because the market is dominated by idiot consumers) or not quite right.

For me personally the keyboard is one of the most important things and nobody gets it right anymore however I recently got a cheap Acer (usually use Asus but their keyboards took a horrible turn) which doesn't have the most awful keyboard and common keys do not require a 3 finger contortionist exercise.

It works reasonably well on either windows or Linux, despite being an AMD disaster - I got the AMD variant of the swift 3 and aside from being typical modern ultrabook filmsy crap (like appple, too), it's actually ok (but depending on WiFi environment may want to replace the mediatek, although it's only caused me issues on garbage consumer AP's like isp provided).

As for the buying experience well that's locality dependent, I ordered online and picked it up from a robot machine a few hours later (alza cz)

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

#416

Post by pllbnk »

bzzzt wrote: post #341
pllbnk wrote: post #338

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Generally I stay away from Apple products or topics. The only reason I decided to comment was that I am forced to use Mac in my current work and after several stints I understood I was not going to get used to it. If people use it and like it, I don't mind. For me, it's just not intuitive; for instance, I wouldn't have thought of looking for this setting, let alone under accessibility options.

If you're going to have to use an unfamiliar device it helps to just check out what it can do (e.g. explore the settings) before concluding it sucks ;) I don't really have the patience for silly stuff that annoys me and should/could be trivial to adjust. Just Google something (in this case 'macos disable animations') and you can remove a lot of friction from your daily life.

It's not just silly stuff. There is stuff such as Apple Music which opens on the foreground every time I put on Bluetooth headphones and the two ways to stop it are either modify some internal system settings via shell or use another app which closes Apple Music immediately after it opens.

Another issue is the fact that whenever I turn on my headphones, if they were connected before laptop went to sleep, it will automatically wake up. Imagine if it was in your backpack and started working there.

At one point I had a list of Mac software issues but then I threw it away before I was forced using it again. As another commenter said, there is a threshold of small issues which once they add up is overstepped and then you search and find better options.

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

#417

Post by Spooky23 »

Try the HP “z” devices. They aren’t Macs, but are way better than Dell stuff at most price points. Metal, decent build quality, many are upgradable. They are mobile workstations, but have some lighter options.

Usually if you go for the workstations, they have a longer lifecycle and get some engineering TLC, the CAD/GIS/high end audience usually has its own budget and doesn’t skinflint as much as normal corporate IT.

Lenovo is overrated and Dell sells so many models that you need to do alot of homework to figure out what is good and what is junk.

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

#418

Post by Spooky23 »

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…

Enterprise drives sales. Big companies don’t care about what some accountant thinks about her laptop.

A procurement officer at an insurance company will just do and RFQ and buy 50,000 laptops. The one the wins may be $2 cheaper than the loser.

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

#419

Post by sedatk »

tluyben2 wrote: post #327
sedatk wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why does nobody care about creaking plastic? About sticky-feeling texture? About uneven weight distribution? About the sound that materials make when handling them? About flickering in software? About inconsistent spacing? About janky color combinations? I think Microsoft's Surface lineup has been making good strides on that front, but they still have a long way to go.

I have only had bad experiences with the surface lineup and I really wanted to like them. I lost a lot of money to MS as they refused to repair saying it was my own fault that they broke. One came broken from the shop as in that I bought it in an Orlando MS shop, opened it up in front of the shop and it was broken. I thought I needed to charge it, so I went to the hotel; when it was still broken 48 hours later, I had…

I think Microsoft's been getting better in handling reliability and support. My Surface Laptop 3 has been rock solid after almost two years of use.

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

#420

Post by Johanx64 »

fartcannon wrote: post #153
uniqueuid wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Trashy is paying extra for needless aesthetics. Function over fashion forever, in my earnest opinion.

Trashy aesthetics is what you get by default when you buy a PC.

Cheapest PC mech keyboard will get you blinking RGB.

Cheap PC case with front mesh airflow. Most likely will come with RGB fans. If it's real cheap you won't be able to even turn it off.

Same with cheapish mouse with decent sensor.

Needless aesthetics is almost unavoidable on the budget end. Unless you specifically go out of your way to pay extra to get models without RGB.

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