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How and why I stopped buying new laptops

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Re: How and why I stopped buying new laptops

#31

Post by jjeaff »

chiefalchemist wrote: post #13
rsync wrote: post #9

The 11" Macbook Air solved the laptop form factor. Thin, light, very portable, USB ports on each side , headphone jack and an external monitor port (in this case, thunderbolt). Could there be some refinements to my 2015 MBA ? Certainly - the two type-A USB ports could remain type A but be upgraded to USB3 ... you could add a USB-C port on each side in place of the magsafe and lightning ports and gain the ability to c…

That word is: lack of market research. I recently finished up shopping for a Windows laptop. It took awhile, as I balanced price with features. You'd be shock how many otherwise decently config'ed offerings lacked a key and basic feature (e.g., backlit KB), or was deficient in some key way (e.g., mid-priced models with only 8 GB RAM soldered, no ability to upgrade). I agree. Some might not need backlit or more than 8…

I don't think it's that so much as the need to convince consumers to upgrade as often as possible even when what they have already works perfectly.

I think they actually do a lot of market research. They know that people like you and I might buy a good product that meets our needs and keep it for 5 years or more. But the bulk of their profits are coming from people who have to buy the newest whizbang model - and it has to look different - or else how will everyone know that you have the newest whizbang model?

Re: How and why I stopped buying new laptops

#32

Post by cehrlich »

dionidium wrote: post #4

I’m a software engineer doing mostly iOS work these days. I recently purchased a 2015 MacBook Pro for $750 on eBay. It’s fine . I’m in Xcode, the browser, or a terminal most of the day. I’m sure a newer computer would seem faster, but I couldn’t imagine spending 3x for a newer version of this thing that’s working just fine for my needs. Some people reading this probably have processor-intensive tasks they routinely p…

I bought the same model recently. Got it for a real bargain because the battery was getting old and one of the two speakers had broken. Those two things took a combined €110 and 2 hours of work to repair. I initially bought this just to hold me over until the ARM 16” comes out in a few months, but now I think I might hold onto it longer. It does everything I need, is very repairable, has good IO, and doesn’t suffer from some of the issues that newer models have.

Other than a few obvious improvements like moving from Thunderbolt 2 to 3 and shrinking the bezels a bit, the 2015 15” is pretty close to the perfect laptop.

Re: How and why I stopped buying new laptops

#34

Post by Const-me »

yread wrote: post #24
Const-me wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you considered a desktop? They are much faster than laptops, who are constrained by thermal issues. It’s hard to dissipate 500W+ of heat from a laptop-sized thing, they simply don’t have enough available surface for air intakes and exhausts. If you want a smaller one to be occasionally portable, there’s Mini-ITX. I currently use a PC I built in this case: https://www.fractal-design.com/products/cases/node/node-2…

Second the Node, very portable, quiet. It is a bit difficult to assemble though. And you need to double check your parts will fit

Indeed, the case is good, but they should have written better documentation.

I have found out I needed to unscrew the small front I/O panel PCB when removing the back side of the case. Then reattach back once the panel is clipped in. http://const.me/tmp/node202-front-panel.jpg

Re: How and why I stopped buying new laptops

#35

Post by dmichulke »

rsync wrote: post #9

The 11" Macbook Air solved the laptop form factor. Thin, light, very portable, USB ports on each side , headphone jack and an external monitor port (in this case, thunderbolt). Could there be some refinements to my 2015 MBA ? Certainly - the two type-A USB ports could remain type A but be upgraded to USB3 ... you could add a USB-C port on each side in place of the magsafe and lightning ports and gain the ability to c…

In German you have verschlimmbessern - making something worse in an attempt to improve it

Re: How and why I stopped buying new laptops

#36

Post by ogre_codes »

dayjobpork wrote: post #27
ogre_codes wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a weird perspective when all newer Apple laptops use a standardized port which is reasonably well supported by third parties and will be for another 10-20 years. Right now I'd say the third party power options are better than OEM, even for Apple.

Apple is also the company that decides that 'x port' is the new greatest thing ever and drops support for previous ports

This is nonsense.

Apple maintained the iPhone 30 pin connector for 10+ years. The Lightning port is 10 years old. Apple supported Thunderbolt for its entire life as a standard. Apple was one of the first to use USB-A and supported it for ~20 years until they switched to USB-C (another standard).

Apple does tend to go all in on a bus, but they don't change them often. You won't find 8 different ports on a Mac to satisfy the previous 4 generations of various connector technologies.

Regardless, if you buy a USB-C powered computer, it doesn't matter a bit what Apple does next year. It's USB-C. Whether Apple changes next year or not, you can still buy cheap/ good third party USB-C charges and they are likely only going to get better.

Re: How and why I stopped buying new laptops

#37

Post by amphitheatre »

bxparks wrote: post #29

I guess I've been doing something similar. I currently use 9 laptops (2 Windows, 5 Linux, 1 MacBookAir, 1 Chromebook). Only the MBA11 and the Chromebook were purchased new. The rest were bought on eBay for $250-$600. After getting them, I max out the RAM, replace the HDD with SSD, or upgrade the SSD. A few of them needed some parts replaced (e.g. fans). The battery almost always needs replacing at some point. Fortuna…

The reasoning behind having the split-colour background is certainly unique and pretty interesting. However, I agree that it made the reading experience harder than it needed to be. My eyes kept darting above and below the dividing line.

Re: How and why I stopped buying new laptops

#38

Post by Talanes »

prvc wrote: post #16

There are only so many 2006-2012 vintage Thinkpads in existence, as he mentions in the last section. This certainly relevant to his "this is a hack" point, however, one should note that prices for these items used has been going up lately, a very unusual trend for used PCs. I hope manufacturers notice this latent value in the PC market.

I remember some years ago when I still lurked 4chan that /t/ was all about buying old thinkpads, installing Arch on them, and showing off your i3 set-up. Prices were rising then too.

Re: How and why I stopped buying new laptops

#39

Post by LeifCarrotson »

chiefalchemist wrote: post #13
rsync wrote: post #9

The 11" Macbook Air solved the laptop form factor. Thin, light, very portable, USB ports on each side , headphone jack and an external monitor port (in this case, thunderbolt). Could there be some refinements to my 2015 MBA ? Certainly - the two type-A USB ports could remain type A but be upgraded to USB3 ... you could add a USB-C port on each side in place of the magsafe and lightning ports and gain the ability to c…

That word is: lack of market research. I recently finished up shopping for a Windows laptop. It took awhile, as I balanced price with features. You'd be shock how many otherwise decently config'ed offerings lacked a key and basic feature (e.g., backlit KB), or was deficient in some key way (e.g., mid-priced models with only 8 GB RAM soldered, no ability to upgrade). I agree. Some might not need backlit or more than 8…

I'd argue too much, not too little market research is the problem. They just have wrong (ok, misaligned) objectives.

Soldered RAM is invisible on the table at Best Buy, but the price savings to the manufacturer are very visible on their balance sheet. In fact, a laptop that becomes useless and you need to upgrade from 8 GB soldered RAM to one with 16 GB soldered RAM after 2 years is more than twice as profitable as one that a consumer stuck a new SODIMM stick in and used for 4+ years. Companies understand that very well, and the average consumer hasn't been able to prove that they are even aware of these problems.

Re: How and why I stopped buying new laptops

#40

Post by JohnJamesRambo »

forgotmypw17 wrote: post #19

I also stopped buying new laptops. The full biological cost is hard to fully imagine, just incredible in size. If you think about it, hundreds and thousands of plant, bacterial, animal, mammal, bird, and other lives are laid down for each of these amazing powerful artefacts. If there are previously used alternatives available, I cannot in good conscience vote for the creation of another one. So I started with a coupl…

I wish more people thought like you. I love old stuff that still works for what I need it to do.

My original iPhone SE and Samsung Chromebook bought for $30 on eBay (with SDSU etched on the front) work perfectly for what I need them for.

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