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The best laptop ever made

marco.org

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Re: The best laptop ever made

#101

Post by petercooper »

dzhiurgis wrote: post #94
petercooper wrote: post #63

I feel like the odd one out. I buy a new MBP every 12-18 months (have owned all Intel generations), use my MBP for hours every day, and think the latest is by far the best. Being able to charge on either side is a big deal for me as I move around a lot, plus being able to use 30W USB-C power packs and third party chargers (e.g. Anker) without fear of fire.. a massive boon for me, especially as my phone and Nintendo S…

To me, the only downside is trackpad - it's too large and palm rejection ain't working perfectly. Keyboard is better, screen is better, ports and touchbar - neutral.

I felt similarly about the trackpad in the first few weeks but somehow the problem seems to have "gone away". I'm suspecting this is some sort of unconscious physical adaptation on my part..

Re: The best laptop ever made

#103

Post by bhj »

revelation wrote: post #40

The best laptop ever made came with not one, but two ports for an utterly failed connector standard (Thunderbolt), long since ditched? And those replaced the ubiquitous RJ45 Ethernet jack? At least they had the good sense to include HDMI and not go full TB .

The connections are standard mini-DisplayPort, which is still very much a thing. As is the Thunderbolt 1/2 protocol over those connections (in the audio world, for example)

Re: The best laptop ever made

#104

Post by platinumrad »

yoodenvranx wrote: post #93
platinumrad wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seconding 4:3 being the absolutely best aspect ratio for working with text. My X220 is amazing in a lot of ways but 16:9 is borderline unusable on any display under ~17 inches in my experience. Even 16:10 feels so much better. You may be interested in making a "T70", which is a 15.4" T61 shell with a contemporary motherboard made by a group of Chinese ThinkPad enthusiasts. I've been considering an "X62" (same concept…

Yep, I am thinking about one of those, but my main problem is not so much the CPU/RAM but the display itself. The 4:3 display in the T61 is just not up to date anymore (e.g. it is utter garbage in every single category). I'd rather have a modern IPS display in 4:3 than a new motherboard but this does not exist. If there would be a modern "IBM" with a 1600x1200 IPS display in a 14"-ish chassis I would be first in line…

It's true that there are no 14.1" 4:3 IPS displays but 15.4" 1400x1050 and 1600x1200 IPS displays do exist which I believe is why the modders decided to target the 15.4" T61 rather than the 14.1" T61. Unfortunately, 14.1" 4:3 ThinkPads are really the sweet spot for me as well as 12.1"/12.5" is just a bit too small and 15"+ is too large.

Re: The best laptop ever made

#105

Post by yoodenvranx »

platinumrad wrote: post #104
yoodenvranx wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, I am thinking about one of those, but my main problem is not so much the CPU/RAM but the display itself. The 4:3 display in the T61 is just not up to date anymore (e.g. it is utter garbage in every single category). I'd rather have a modern IPS display in 4:3 than a new motherboard but this does not exist. If there would be a modern "IBM" with a 1600x1200 IPS display in a 14"-ish chassis I would be first in line…

It's true that there are no 14.1" 4:3 IPS displays but 15.4" 1400x1050 and 1600x1200 IPS displays do exist which I believe is why the modders decided to target the 15.4" T61 rather than the 14.1" T61. Unfortunately, 14.1" 4:3 ThinkPads are really the sweet spot for me as well as 12.1"/12.5" is just a bit too small and 15"+ is too large.

> Unfortunately, 14.1" 4:3 ThinkPads are really the sweet spot for me as 12.1"/12.5" is just a bit too small and 15"+ is too large.

This is exactly my problem! 12" is too small for longer reading and 15" is already getting too bulky for carying it around. 14.1" is the perfect myth of both worlds.

Re: The best laptop ever made

#106

Post by geetfun »

sarreph wrote: post #58

I knew what laptop Marco would be talking about before I clicked on the link. Perhaps that says something about Marco, but I have the feeling it's almost certainly about how widely-lauded the old rMBP was, and still clearly is. Apple got so many things right with it, because all the design choices made sense , for exactly the reasons Marco gives. The design choices being made at the top of Apple no longer make sense.…

I really loved the 2012-2015 line of MBPs. I didn't have a 15 inch, but the 13 inch one. It'll always be my favourite as it's the perfect balance between size/portability/power/style.

Re: The best laptop ever made

#107

Post by femto113 »

mrtksn wrote: post #44

I don't know, I kind of think that the best ever is Macbook Air 2015. I would also argue that Macbook Air was the first laptop ever since it was the first truly portable - not just transportable personal computer ever. For the first time a notebook was light, performant and run long enough on battery to be actually usable out of your office or home. Yep, the screen is not retina but it's also significantly lighter, t…

I tried to like the Air but the aluminum bezel around the screen is a non-starter for me. If there has to be something around the screen it better fade into the background (like the MBP's black glass or a typical desktop monitor's black plastic).

Re: The best laptop ever made

#108

Post by holografix »

I loved my MBPr when it came out, had it for years abd then decided to buy a refreshed model basically for faster wifi and because I could.

Suddenly I learned that the SAME version of my mac but newer cost the same and REMOVED the dGPU.

I was flabbergasted... why the HELL would I pay the same money to lose the dGPU.

That day I had to abandon the mac and I got a Surface Book. The new line of Macbooks with their poorer battery life, silly keyboards and overdosed trackpads made me feel less like I was missing something.

First mac was the Macbook “white” one of the forst intel ones.

Magical is the only word I have. The breathing sleep led, the orange/green charging indicator. The button on the underside which would light up a simple gauge indicating battery level. The media remote control. The terminal with Python and C installed out of the box.

I mean it was way way way beyond anything you could buy and although more expensive it was worth every penny.

Just doesnt feel like that anymore.

The new macbooks just cost too much and the features dont feel like an improvement.

Re: The best laptop ever made

#109

Post by omikun »

shalmanese wrote: post #75
afinno wrote: post #54

It's odd that this was posted as I was thinking along these lines the other day. I have a 2012 Retina 15". The first generation. I spec'd it out at the time hoping for it to last me at least a few years. From 2015 I've been eyeing off every new release of Macbook Pro thinking "yeah this time I'll upgrade" but then I realise there is actually nothing wrong with my current one. Like, nothing at all. I realise the batte…

Were the issues with mouse lag on the 2012 model hardware or software related? I tried a 2012 right when it first came out and got physically nauseous from the extreme degree of mouse lag when scrolling. The 2013 never had any problems and I've been using that for the last 4 years.

Definitely a software issue. I have the 2012 model and it would lag in expose. But after the metal upgrade it got a lot smoother. Still gets choppy with many apps, but otherwise smooth animations in most places.

Re: The best laptop ever made

#110

Post by relyio »

blhack wrote: post #76

This makes me so sad. My laptop is a tool that I use for close to 12 (maybe even more!) hours per day. Every single day. It is the tool I use more than any other tool . It is such an important part of my life. It's so important that it work well. I remember when I got my first MBP (it was a 2010 model). I had long been a linux user, and getting the mac was something I had done begrudgingly. I remember how the little…

Same story here. I had used a mix of Fedora/Debian with a custom window manager for the longest time. Then reluctantly got a macbook and had a great user experience.

I used to love Macbooks, now I hate them with passion.

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