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I stopped buying new laptops (2020)

solar.lowtechmagazine.com

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Re: I stopped buying new laptops (2020)

#141

Post by cj »

MAGZine wrote: post #135
cj wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What’s delusional is highly paid engineers not investing money in essential tools to get their work done. A new laptop is 1-2% of the annual salary of many people here.

If productivity is so important, why are people using laptops at all? Desktop processors are faster.

And cheaper! I personally run on a M1 Mac Mini (and iMac before that)

I paid less than $700 for the Mac Mini right when the M1 chip came out. It’s hands down the fastest computer I’ve ever owned.

Re: I stopped buying new laptops (2020)

#142

Post by marcus0x62 »

photonerd wrote: post #109
edflsafoiewq wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is not what he means by "Laptops don't change". He means > A 2015 research paper discovered that the embodied energy of laptops is static over time. > Improvements in functionality balance the efficiency gains obtained in the manufacturing process. Battery mass, memory, and hard disk drive mass decreased per unit of functionality but showed roughly constant totals per year. > New laptops may be more energy-effic…

So… you can do more, faster, for longer, then? Sounds like a good argument for upgrading

The author is choosing to optimize for environmental impact over raw performance.

Re: I stopped buying new laptops (2020)

#143

Post by bitwize »

I knew a guy who would buy a laptop, use it for like 3 months, then flip it on eBay and buy another. He said this is how you get good value for money -- flip it before it loses much of its resale value and buy new with the proceeds.

I'm not sure why people would do this. I use computer equipment to the point of exhaustion. I still have laptops from the 90s that work fine; while they will never be a main they are fun to play with. My main laptop currently is a ThinkPad from 2014 -- it does just about all that I need it to do without a hitch or stutter.

My main PC is a Ryzen desktop I bought in 2018. It's probably due for some upgrades, but I cannot afford them currently.

Re: I stopped buying new laptops (2020)

#144

Post by quadrifoliate »

tyg13 wrote: post #111
redroyal wrote: post #37

“Laptops don’t change” Really? because a few years ago battery life was maybe 7 hours and now it’s 18. And with faster processors, thunderbolt 4 and USB C charging, wifi 6, better screens and lighter. I keep hearing this argument for not buying a new laptop every year and it just doesn’t hold water. I say buy the latest MacBook, expense it, factor it in as a monthly cost. These are expendable and essential tools. The…

> The main product AFAICS is virtue signaling. Friendly reminder that people do care about things you don't care about. Claims of virtue signaling say more about you than them, quite frankly. And really, you should care about the massive amount of e-waste generated every year.

This.

I lose any hope for us as a species being able to reverse climate change if the top comment about an article that goes quite deep into meaningful ways to “reduce, reuse, recycle" is that this is virtue signaling, and that we should buy Macbooks every year instead because they are "expendable tools".

Guess what, their impact on the environment is very much noticeable. There is no way we are going to reverse or even meaningfully delay climate change with this kind of collective attitude.

Re: I stopped buying new laptops (2020)

#145

Post by gregw2 »

The original article makes a good point but neither it nor the comments here mention my main concern with used computers-- They don't have the same clean/new-system "security" properties as a new computer.

Who knows what malware/security rootkit was installed on some consumer machine that persisted in some corner of it and didn't get detected/wiped? It's kinda a crapshoot in my view.

Re: I stopped buying new laptops (2020)

#146

Post by tannhaeuser »

rozenmd wrote: post #7

ThinkPads are absolutely magic. Here's one I built for travelling: https://maxrozen.com/replacing-my-macbook-m1-with-thinkpad-t...

Anecdata, but before going all-in on ThinkPads I thought I share my experience.

For the ThinkPad x13 2nd gen Ryzen I received for a customer project (with the customer not interested in getting it back after the project was completed) it's too early to say anything about reliability, but somehow the touchpad isn't centered properly and I always hit left click when I want right click - it's unbearable and surprisingly bad for a ThinkPad.

Before, I had an ThinkPad E495 Ryzen that worked ok but after two years the touchpad got stuck - the pointless (for me!) construction with touch point and extra mechanical buttons (only acting as barrier) certainly didn't help.

Before, I had my beloved Dell XPS 2016 which however had a swollen battery. Still, I consider it one of the best notebooks I had; gnome 2 and Unity also just got it right.

In the last four years I got five (!) ThinkPad and Dell Precision notebooks for customer projects having battery or memory problems OOTB (the x13 I mentioned above was a notebook that finally worked).

The notebook I used for the longest time (7 years) was a PowerBook G4 2003. I hope my current MacBook M1 will last me about as long, but at least 5 years. In terms of power management, display, and usability, a Mac notebook is in another league compared to Dells and ThinkPads with Linux, it's not even funny. Linux desktops have regressed to the point they have ceased to be usable for me. With the newer MacBooks, I think Apple listened to customers and nailed it; I'd just prefer lighter (non-alu) materials.

Re: I stopped buying new laptops (2020)

#147

Post by doubled112 »

sheepscreek wrote: post #110
redroyal wrote: post #37

“Laptops don’t change” Really? because a few years ago battery life was maybe 7 hours and now it’s 18. And with faster processors, thunderbolt 4 and USB C charging, wifi 6, better screens and lighter. I keep hearing this argument for not buying a new laptop every year and it just doesn’t hold water. I say buy the latest MacBook, expense it, factor it in as a monthly cost. These are expendable and essential tools. The…

For OPs use-case which is mainly writing articles, reading and such - an older laptop will work fine. Especially when powered from A/C. My MacBook Pro 2014 base model can still hold a candle to MacBook Air M1 for general use (even dev work to an extent), and that’s saying something. It’s slower, but doesn’t feel 9-years-old slow - if you know what I mean. It doesn’t drive me nuts to use it and I can be productive on…

Always assumed it was because laptops start at $300 and cars start at $30,000.

Don’t call me out on the actual numbers, I am only really paying attention to the zeros.

Re: I stopped buying new laptops (2020)

#148

Post by yardstick »

MAGZine wrote: post #135
cj wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What’s delusional is highly paid engineers not investing money in essential tools to get their work done. A new laptop is 1-2% of the annual salary of many people here.

If productivity is so important, why are people using laptops at all? Desktop processors are faster.

If you just work in one location only, sure. I work from home, the office, coffee shop. When Im at home I often like to code from the couch rather than the home office. Laptops add flexibility. I like their middle ground of flexibility and performance.

I’m also one of those “weird” people that don’t use an external monitor. And yet I’m still just as productive, probably more so, than most of my coworkers.

Re: I stopped buying new laptops (2020)

#149

Post by conceptme »

redroyal wrote: post #37

“Laptops don’t change” Really? because a few years ago battery life was maybe 7 hours and now it’s 18. And with faster processors, thunderbolt 4 and USB C charging, wifi 6, better screens and lighter. I keep hearing this argument for not buying a new laptop every year and it just doesn’t hold water. I say buy the latest MacBook, expense it, factor it in as a monthly cost. These are expendable and essential tools. The…

Just being able to replace the battery is a huge win.

Re: I stopped buying new laptops (2020)

#150

Post by lvspiff »

MAGZine wrote: post #132
stetrain wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

18 hours advertised is usually running a locally stored video file on loop at medium to low screen brightness and some light web browsing. My 18-hour laptop is more like 8-10 hours of real work usage, which is still fantastic compared to the 2-3 hours I would get at similar tasks 6-7 years ago. Another big change is improvements to sleep and standby time. I can use half the battery, close the lid, and be reasonably c…

10 years ago I could write software and take notes and browse the Internet for 8h a day on a MacBook air.

I recall the same - the first and second gen airs were to me the epitome of what a laptop should be. Solid feature delivery in a portable light package that was still humming after a flight from LA to DFW.
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