Thin yet Repairable Devices: HP Proves They Exist • Hacker News Board

Re: Thin yet Repairable Devices: HP Proves They Exist

#11

Post by ghaff » Thu, Jun 27, 2019, 4:17 AM UTC

seltzered_ wrote: post #10

jeswin wrote: post #9

Slightly off topic, but do people prefer metal laptop cases as seen in this HP elitebook? Aluminum looks great, but I find it way more slippery than carbon or even matte plastic. Soft shells are so much more comfortable to hold than metal. The disappointing thing is Apple managed to draw a lot of otherwise sensible designs from the practicality of the 90s to an aesthetics-first approach. As an old Thinkpad user, I am…

I have an hp plastic elitebook laptop (made in 2017) and am baffled by the flexness and lack of confidence in the case compared to my MacBook. I’ve also tried using some of the well-regarded thinkpad models and dealt with plastic falling off side panels and snagging when trying to slide it into backpacks. I think Apple makes an assumption that if you want something with more protection / grippyness, there’s a whole w…

>using some of the well-regarded thinkpad models and dealt with plastic falling off side panels and snagging when trying to slide it into backpacks.

I've been a very longtime user of both Thinkpads and MacBooks. I've liked my various Thinkpads but my experience using them as daily drivers was that there were invariably various port covers and other parts that could be reliably counted on to break off or otherwise be lost in a matter of months.

Re: Thin yet Repairable Devices: HP Proves They Exist

#12

Post by foobarbecue » Thu, Jun 27, 2019, 4:27 AM UTC

eropple wrote: post #8

bsder wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The question is whether they are still complete garbage. I'm not the only one who absolutely refuses to buy anything branded HP.

The Spectre laptops are pretty dang nice and are Linux-friendly. The dark-and-copper one looks fantastic, too. I'd be using one right now, instead of a Thinkpad T480, if they didn't put Ctrl and Fn in the wrong places. (My hands just can't re-learn that one.)

When did Fn become a thing? I still haven't gotten used to it.

Re: Thin yet Repairable Devices: HP Proves They Exist

#13

Post by godelski » Thu, Jun 27, 2019, 4:28 AM UTC

I hope this gets a lot of praise. Being able to repair isn't just a hobby. It saves people a lot of money and is really beneficial to the environment. It is something we should strive for. Computers have gotten fast enough where most consumers don't need all the latest and greatest hardware. Frankly most people just surf the internet and watch netflix. We should encourage repair-ability

Re: Thin yet Repairable Devices: HP Proves They Exist

#14

Post by flukus » Thu, Jun 27, 2019, 4:29 AM UTC

sliken wrote: post #3

But should they? I suspect a majority of the market would take a few extra mm of thickness for a durable laptop with a durable battery that would last a few more years. But instead manufacturers of laptops, phones, and tablets are putting in substandard batteries to help ensure you come back in a few years for a new one. Especially evil is when there's no screws and they epoxy the battery.

I'd take a lot of extra thickness. I had a cleanout of old tech recently and found an 10" HP laptop I hadn't used for a few years and fighting the nostalgia to get rid of that one was hard. It was such a solid, thick and chunky little thing that I could put through hell and would just keep on working. It was just perfect for it's job of mostly coding during commute time. I don't feel remotely the same way about the thinner, faster dell I replaced it with.

Re: Thin yet Repairable Devices: HP Proves They Exist

#15

Post by paranoidrobot » Thu, Jun 27, 2019, 5:04 AM UTC

jeswin wrote: post #9

Slightly off topic, but do people prefer metal laptop cases as seen in this HP elitebook? Aluminum looks great, but I find it way more slippery than carbon or even matte plastic. Soft shells are so much more comfortable to hold than metal. The disappointing thing is Apple managed to draw a lot of otherwise sensible designs from the practicality of the 90s to an aesthetics-first approach. As an old Thinkpad user, I am…

I think it depends entirely on the surface finish given to the device.

Brushed or patterned aluminium can be very 'grippy' (eg the lid on my old Asus Zenbook), even more than the Thinkpads with the matte plastic.

I'd rather a sandblasted/high gloss metal case over the awful soft-touch plastic of Dell's XPS line.

Re: Thin yet Repairable Devices: HP Proves They Exist

#16

Post by pmontra » Thu, Jun 27, 2019, 5:06 AM UTC

bsder wrote: post #5

fitzroy wrote: post #4

I honestly had no idea HP still made laptops — or that they were still in the consumer hardware business at all.

The question is whether they are still complete garbage. I'm not the only one who absolutely refuses to buy anything branded HP.

I own a ZBook 15 (2014) and it's very good. The bad points are the keyboard with a number pad (I'd pay an extra for one without it, MacBook style) and (less important) the 16:9 form factor of the screen (anything taller is better and the screen has a lot of vertical bezel).

The good points are that's fast enough for my job (mostly backend web development) and easily expandable. I eventually maxed up the RAM to 32 GB, replaced the HDD and DVD with 2 SSD, replaced the keyboard (this is the 6th year of the laptop) and I know I could replace the CPU and the GPU if I care. It runs Ubuntu well.

Somebody could dislike its 3 kg and the 0.8 kg power brick, its thickness and the about 3 hours battery time but they're less important to me than expandability and the 3 buttons touchpad. I work from home most of the time. By the way, the battery apparently didn't lose any capacity along these years.

https://www.ifixit.com/Device/HP_ZBook_15

The newest models improved on many of the good points and some of the last ones I wrote about. The keyboard still has the number pad. I'm considering a 14" model to get rid of it.

Re: Thin yet Repairable Devices: HP Proves They Exist

#17

Post by el_benhameen » Thu, Jun 27, 2019, 5:15 AM UTC

Anyone use one of these for work and care to share their opinion? I got burned real bad (figuratively, though it did get very hot) by a garbage HP laptop in like 2006, so I’m curious if the build and general quality have improved.

Re: Thin yet Repairable Devices: HP Proves They Exist

#18

Post by paranoidrobot » Thu, Jun 27, 2019, 5:19 AM UTC

eropple wrote: post #8

bsder wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The question is whether they are still complete garbage. I'm not the only one who absolutely refuses to buy anything branded HP.

The Spectre laptops are pretty dang nice and are Linux-friendly. The dark-and-copper one looks fantastic, too. I'd be using one right now, instead of a Thinkpad T480, if they didn't put Ctrl and Fn in the wrong places. (My hands just can't re-learn that one.)

I have to second this - I got a late 2016 Spectre X360 and it's been my daily driver since.

Though I have to say that the ability to open it up is less than ideal.

Because of a leaky water bottle and a surprisingly waterproof bag I managed to soak my week-old laptop for about 12 hours.

There's only two screws on the bottom, and they're covered by rubber feet. The problem is that only two of the four rubber feet are removable - removing the other two breaks a clip, meaning I had to superglue them back on.

After drying it out over the forced-air vents of a server-room for a few days, it was a-ok.

Re: Thin yet Repairable Devices: HP Proves They Exist

#19

Post by paranoidrobot » Thu, Jun 27, 2019, 5:20 AM UTC

foobarbecue wrote: post #12

eropple wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Spectre laptops are pretty dang nice and are Linux-friendly. The dark-and-copper one looks fantastic, too. I'd be using one right now, instead of a Thinkpad T480, if they didn't put Ctrl and Fn in the wrong places. (My hands just can't re-learn that one.)

When did Fn become a thing? I still haven't gotten used to it.

Pretty sure they've been a thing for at least 20 years now, if not longer.

Re: Thin yet Repairable Devices: HP Proves They Exist

#20

Post by sliken » Thu, Jun 27, 2019, 5:42 AM UTC

sigstoat wrote: post #7

sliken wrote: post #3

But should they? I suspect a majority of the market would take a few extra mm of thickness for a durable laptop with a durable battery that would last a few more years. But instead manufacturers of laptops, phones, and tablets are putting in substandard batteries to help ensure you come back in a few years for a new one. Especially evil is when there's no screws and they epoxy the battery.

> But instead manufacturers of laptops, phones, and tablets are putting in substandard batteries to help ensure you come back in a few years for a new one. which manufacturer is it they're buying from that's substandard, who should they be buying from, and how are those "standard" companies the standard when they have to be making a tiny slice of the batteries on the planet if they're not used in laptops, phones or t…

Apple for instance, although their battery replacement program helps. Their macbook air and other very thin laptops have very hard to replace batteries. Not to mention the apple problems (keyboards and flexgate/stage light most recently). Is it worth 3 generations of keyboard problems for some tiny saved amount of thickness?

Google Pixel phones, slate, and pixel book are similarly hard. Dell and Lenovo are mixed, some of the thin ones are hard to work on, some of the thicker ones are great, modular, and easy to work on.