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We Need a Better PC

blog.dcpos.ch

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Re: We Need a Better PC

#11

Post by aesthetics1 »

jitl wrote: post #6

Did you look at Dell's line of XPS ultrabooks? I don't own one myself, but the ultra narrow bezels and industrial design look quite nice.

Posting this from an XPS 13. You're right - they look quite nice, and the performance is really there for an ultrabook. Dell has a developer edition that comes with Ubuntu on it out of the box if that's more your style, but Windows 10 is actually not too bad either.

Re: We Need a Better PC

#12

Post by xlayn »

Do you like the MacBook but don't like the OS? go ahead and change it, you can have triple boot.

Tiny fonts and pop ups doesn't have anything to do with the machine you are going to buy (unless you also want the website).

HP makes the elitebook, magnesium construction a la thinkpad.

And last but not least I would like to give this entry the RAGE post award, nomination points for

  What I want is a computer with:

    -Decent build quality
    -Decent performance and battery life
    -A decent website. It doesn't have to be an icon of web
    design, like apple.com. It can be simple and 
    utilitarian, like an Amazon page. It just has to be
    honest and up to date. It should contain pictures,
    text, and a Buy button.
    -A clean OS without crapware or malware factory
    installed

  Is that too much to ask? Make one and you can have my
  money!
Apple, Lenovo, Microsoft and HP make systems like the one you want, you can install your choice of OS and buy it on Amazon or eBay if you want.

Bonus points for calling apple website an icon of web design when it weights almost 100mb.

Rage score 9/10.

Re: We Need a Better PC

#13

Post by leecarraher »

i have a 2014 x1 carbon. solid build, decent battery under linux(5hrs average load). probably will get an x1 next round too. dont get booged down with specs though. newest is outdated in a year, and if you don't get a new laptop every year, arguing specs is pretty moot. drawbacks - soldered on ram + it's a premium not super modular. positive - its solid and nicely designed with a great keyboard (and this is from an otherwise chicklet style hater, but really nice travel)

Re: We Need a Better PC

#14

Post by whalesalad »

jolux wrote: post #7

Honestly if you get a Mac you can install rEFInd on it and boot Linux just fine, or run Linux in a VM. The hardware also almost never breaks and especially if you have AppleCare they frequently replace it for free. Yes, it may be difficult to upgrade yourself. That's entirely true and if it's a deal breaker there's not much else around. You might do well to look at https://puri.sm if you're a Linux user, they seem to…

Agreed. All of the points in this article that are against the PC makers are both valid and quite significant. The Apple ones are not practical problems. Sure you aren't encouraged to open it, but you can. I've replaced virtually every part on virtually every generation of Intel Mac just fine. Screens, memory, batteries, disk drives, etc...

If you don't like the OS and the free software that's included, replace it. You weren't gonna stick with the OEM bloatware Windows install on the Thinkpad anyway.

The author is correct, we need more competition, but for the time being a Mac is truly the best piece of kit you can get. It'll run any OS and doesn't ship with an ssl mitm.

Re: We Need a Better PC

#15

Post by ank_the_elder »

voltagex_ wrote: post #9
jitl wrote: post #6

Did you look at Dell's line of XPS ultrabooks? I don't own one myself, but the ultra narrow bezels and industrial design look quite nice.

I looked at the 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, Skylake variant of the XPS 13. Amazing looking machine, fits my filter criteria of "has service manual available to mortals" except for one problem - Dell won't sell me one, and neither will Microsoft (Signature Edition). They only seem to be available in the US and even if I was willing to spend the nearly $4000AUD to import one they won't ship to a non-US address.

Several of the best Dell laptops are sold here in Australia with a considerable markup, even allowing for exchange rate. I tried to buy an XPS variant which was considered a 'workstation' for Australian Dell and so had an exorbitant markup which I'm not willing to pay.

Hopefully things have improved now.

Re: We Need a Better PC

#16

Post by dcposch »

akhilcacharya wrote: post #4

After I bought my MBPr 2014 I started looking around at similar machines. In my mind, the only competition is with the Surface Book, but even that's debatable given the screen size.

The convertible tablet aspect seems like a gimmick, but other than that it looks v nice.

The part where it will actually have a clean Windows installation with no crapware is pretty excellent.

Re: We Need a Better PC

#17

Post by archimedespi »

spo81rty wrote: post #5

I really like my Razer laptop. They basically look like black MacBook Pros. Quality seems very high and I have enjoyed using it for several months. Quad core Cpu and 16 GB of RAM provides plenty of power as a dev box.

Yeah, I'd love to get the new Razer[0] that came out this year, but unfortunately they went the way of "thunderbolt3.0 all the things" which is... not going to work with Linux. At all :(

[0] - http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-systems/razer-blade-stealth

Re: We Need a Better PC

#18

Post by coin »

jitl wrote: post #6

Did you look at Dell's line of XPS ultrabooks? I don't own one myself, but the ultra narrow bezels and industrial design look quite nice.

Dell's website is even worse. I can't just navigate to buy laptop, I have to decide upfront if it's "for work" or "for home". Why does it matter? Will picking one eliminate options? Once I choose, I'm presented with 6 lines - Latitude, Vostro, Inspiron, Precision, XPS, and Chromebook. What's the difference? I guess I have to go read the marketing description for all of them. Who has time for this?

Re: We Need a Better PC

#19

Post by vardump »

My dream laptop:

1) No malware/spyware tainted brand.

2) At least 32 GB ECC RAM, 16 GB is so 2010. ECC, because memory errors do happen and cause instability. 64 GB option wouldn't hurt either.

3) HiDPI (retina) display (IPS or equivalent)

4) Fast PCI-e attached SSD.

5) Ability to run two 4k monitors @60 Hz.

6) Stable USB3 ports (My 2015 RMBP keeps resetting USB3 ports, making it nearly impossible to run VMs on USB3 drives)

7) ~10h+ on battery.

Re: We Need a Better PC

#20

Post by voltagex_ »

xlayn wrote: post #12

Do you like the MacBook but don't like the OS? go ahead and change it, you can have triple boot. Tiny fonts and pop ups doesn't have anything to do with the machine you are going to buy (unless you also want the website). HP makes the elitebook, magnesium construction a la thinkpad. And last but not least I would like to give this entry the RAGE post award, nomination points for What I want is a computer with: -Decen…

Add me to the rage brigade.

I think the OP has missed the Microsoft "Signature" edition products. They're a clean Windows 10 image and you buy direct from Microsoft. I just wish they'd sell me the XPS 13 9350 (the highest spec'd one) in Australia.

Edit: AFAICT a lot of the battery life on a MacBook comes from the way OS X works - friends who use Bootcamp tell me it significantly reduces their battery time.

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