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We Need a Better PC

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Re: We Need a Better PC

#31

Post by voltagex_ »

wldcordeiro wrote: post #25
voltagex_ wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

That's lame they don't sell those there. I got a 9350 myself and loaded Ubuntu onto it and it's been fantastic. What do they limit you to? Just the basic XPS 13 models? Also, what if someone in the US bought one and had it shipped to Australia? Is that doable?

I shouldn't complain too much, the 8GB / 256GB version is the highest they offer here. It's just that I'd like to run VMs on the thing and 16GB of RAM is needed.

My other constraint is weight, for $REASONS - I don't really want something >1.5KG.

Re: We Need a Better PC

#32

Post by vardump »

voltagex_ wrote: post #23
vardump wrote: post #19

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…

>2015 RMBP keeps resetting USB3 ports Do you know who OEMed those ports? I've had a horrible run of luck with crappy USB3 chipsets in desktops - with the same symptoms as you're having. Do you still get the resets in Windows 8.1/10?

> Do you know who OEMed those ports?

Looks like Intel:

  PCI Device ID:	0x9cb1 
  PCI Revision ID:	0x0003 
  PCI Vendor ID:	0x8086
> Do you still get the resets in Windows 8.1/10?

Just running latest OSX El Capitan.

Re: We Need a Better PC

#34

Post by ripberge »

I have a Lenovo X1 carbon and I re-installed Windows to remove all the Lenovo crapware after I bought it. Windows is easy to download and install now. It will save your license, but blow away everything else. It only takes about 30-45 minutes. But I do agree, this is totally ridiculous that you have to do this.

I did buy an MS Surface and it was by far the best PC experience I ever had, however they don't make a keyboard cover with a touch-stick, that's the only reason I went back to a ThinkPad.

Re: We Need a Better PC

#35

Post by dnautics »

Avoid the dell developers edition xps13. There's no end key, the trackpad is unusable. Even worse, avoid getting the windows version and installing Linux on that: the trackpad is even less unusable (resets to lower corner intermittently on clicks), and in order to get the wi-fi working I had to recompile the kernel driver telling it that it was FOSS.

Re: We Need a Better PC

#36

Post by ktRolster »

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…

    > Bonus points for calling apple website an icon of web design when it weights almost 100mb.
Plus calling Amazon.com 'simple and utilitarian' is questionable.

Does anyone really care a whole lot about the HP website?

Re: We Need a Better PC

#37

Post by soared »

Why is a decent website relevant at all? Would it make buying a laptop easier? Sure. But 90% of consumers are going to do almost all of their research off-site and enter the lenovo looking for specific products or categories. Not everyone follows the Apple-Disney ethos of design every consumer facing thing to be flawless.

I haven't done the research but I bet you could see lenovo pages ranking higher for long-tail keywords (specific products) than than more general pages.

Re: We Need a Better PC

#38

Post by rtpg »

PaulHoule wrote: post #2

Don't get a a laptop. The pc industry is doomed with phone envy. Desktop machines are one place you can really do better.

I can't bring my desktop to any environment, therefore it's a non-starter.

I _do_ think it's interesting to think "maybe buying 1 (even 2) desktops is actually better for me than buying 1 laptop", but I cannot bring my desktop to the library. I feel like this comment is on the same level as "don't buy a phone, you can do better with a laptop", which is absurd on a similar level without extra context.

Re: We Need a Better PC

#39

Post by r-w »

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.

Except what the hell, where’s my desktop-grade GPU!? ;)

Re: We Need a Better PC

#40

Post by soared »

ripberge wrote: post #34

I have a Lenovo X1 carbon and I re-installed Windows to remove all the Lenovo crapware after I bought it. Windows is easy to download and install now. It will save your license, but blow away everything else. It only takes about 30-45 minutes. But I do agree, this is totally ridiculous that you have to do this. I did buy an MS Surface and it was by far the best PC experience I ever had, however they don't make a keyb…

Wasn't there ab article about Lenovo getting around this solution? I did the same thing with my y40. Came with an absurd amount of bullshit, but overall its a great laptop.
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