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Introducing Surface Laptop

blogs.windows.com

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Re: Introducing Surface Laptop

#221
post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

this would be my dream laptop if it ran linux out of the box. I really wish a linux laptop with this type of design was put out for an affordable price, I really think its a major opportunity for a large business market there. I think there is a lot of room for improvement on the "librem' laptops...

If you're willing to comprimise on price, the new ThinkPad X1 Carbon is a fantastic Linux business laptop.

The ThinkPad X1 Carbon had just been "coreboot" supported ( so it will be soon the libreboot best/newest one ? ) : that's one big add-point to Linux . ( Sorry if I misunderstood something , it's my first post and I'm not so geeky :) , english too is not my native language )

Re: Introducing Surface Laptop

#222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Given the target market (schools) I think not being able to install downloaded software is only a good thing. Except that giving kids unfettered access to their computers allows them to flourish. See: BBC Micro, Raspberry Pi, Apple ][, the list goes on.

A minute fraction of kids will use the ability to install downloaded software to flourish. The vast majority of children will just download games, malware, and porn. Society should be more honest with itself about the simple reality that the vast majority of children are not and will not ever be special.

The games got me into coding- I had to know how it all worked.

Without games, there wouldn't have been any point to dig deeper than word processing.

Re: Introducing Surface Laptop

#223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Compared to what? Surface i5, 8/256 $1299, MBP $1499 or $1799 depending on the i5 processor. Surface i7, 8/256 $1599, MBP $2099 Surface i7, 16/512 $2199, MBP $2499. So not sure how you're saying this is on the expensive end.

I don't think /u/tmd83 said MBPs were not expensive or was even comparing the two.

When he's replying to a comment that is absolutely comparing the two, it's probably not off-topic for a reply to continue the comparison.

Re: Introducing Surface Laptop

#224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"New Windows 10 Education PCs will be coming out soon from partners including Asus, Samsung, Dell, and HP, starting at $189." The Surface Laptop isn't meant to compete with those. Like everything else in the Surface line, it's more of an example to the rest of the industry of what kind of devices they could/should be building for Windows to run on.

189 will be low res & atom based but I guess you get what you pay for.

I have a cheap Windows 2-in-1 that lists for $180 but I picked up for $100.

I'm reasonably happy with it, except for the touchpad (planning to get a mouse and disable), but for the price it's certainly a fine computer. It's definitely what I'd buy for a kid.

I expect that MS is just encouraging more of those kinds of devices to be made, maybe with slightly better HW.

Re: Introducing Surface Laptop

#225

Its not as bad as it first sounds. You can run full office, you have an ok browser and casual games. Its obviously not made for most of the people on HN but it fits the requirements for a lot of people business and home users. Assuming they release some very cheap laptops / convertibles running it it could work.

If I can run Linux on it, then maybe.

Re: Introducing Surface Laptop

#226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

your kids know how the TV works better then you do. If you don't realize this you're not paying attention. Just because they don't care to write web apps doesn't mean they don't know what they are doing.

I'm sorry can you expand on that? I don't know how could average kids understand AC/DC Power, Signal transmission, different display types, etc better than average adults, especially those interested in technology, maybe I'm missing something from your comment?

I can, see you took my statement of "works" to mean they could explain to you why the Higgs field allows particles to have mass and then extrapolate that up to explain the existence of a TV. I simply meant they know how to use it for its desired purpose, better then most adults do.

Re: Introducing Surface Laptop

#227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Given the target market (schools) I think not being able to install downloaded software is only a good thing. Except that giving kids unfettered access to their computers allows them to flourish. See: BBC Micro, Raspberry Pi, Apple ][, the list goes on.

A minute fraction of kids will use the ability to install downloaded software to flourish. The vast majority of children will just download games, malware, and porn. Society should be more honest with itself about the simple reality that the vast majority of children are not and will not ever be special.

And in the absence of computers (or any other tool to stimulate their curiosity; computers are just an excellent tool), the "special" (I hate that word) kids will just be miserable. If 90% of the kids who are given one of these computers squander them and 10% of kids use them to find an outlet for their curiosity, then it's worth it.

Unless you actively try to stimulate the smarter kids and give them something to sink their teeth into, it's extremely difficult to tell the difference between kids who are bored and miserable because the material is below their level and kids who just don't give a shit about learning. In both cases, they'll be goofing off, not paying attention, and possibly disrupting class, but one group can flourish under the right conditions, and the other group is a lost cause.

Re: Introducing Surface Laptop

#228
This laptop is awesome! I hope they will update the removable dynamic hinge model as well, I really liked it.

I do have some concern that Windows S may be another step towards the "boiling the frogs" that Tim Sweeney was warning about. I think he is very wise in saying we should be wary of Microsoft gradually closing Windows down as a platform.

Re: Introducing Surface Laptop

#229

They're now demoing the Surface Laptop. Thinner than a MacBook Air. Faster than a MacBook Pro. Longer battery life than either. The downside? "Windows 10 S", which only runs apps from the Windows Store. The upside over Windows RT from the Windows 8 era? You can port Win32 apps to the Store today, don't think you could back then. Edit: You can upgrade Windows 10 S to ordinary Windows 10 Pro for $50. Laptops that run W…

Not the only downside. Machine looks great but that fabric material in the keyboard looks like it will be easily stained with sweat (a common problem with surface pro keyboards). No USB-C seems like a big missed opportunity as well.

Re: Introducing Surface Laptop

#230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're willing to comprimise on price, the new ThinkPad X1 Carbon is a fantastic Linux business laptop.

The ThinkPad X1 Carbon had just been "coreboot" supported ( so it will be soon the libreboot best/newest one ? ) : that's one big add-point to Linux . ( Sorry if I misunderstood something , it's my first post and I'm not so geeky :) , english too is not my native language )

The model supported by coreboot is the first generation X1 Carbon, which is 4-5 years old now. I'm talking about the 5th generation, which has only been available for a few months.
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