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The Perfect Laptop

blog.brossia.com

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Re: The Perfect Laptop

#101

Post by post-it »

pico303 wrote: post #84

> another Apple can’t put my finger on why this is so much better than everyone else things Once you’ve used a Mac touchpad, it’s impossible to go back to a Windows/Linux laptop. I’ve tried…

> can’t put my finger on why this is so much better than everyone else

Because it doesn't move. When you press down on an Apple touchpad, it doesn't displace at all, it vibrates. This gives you an identical touch response across the entire trackpad, plus nifty things like Force Touch and customizable response intensity.

Nobody else has done it, and it makes every other touchpad feel awful.

Re: The Perfect Laptop

#102

Post by bee_rider »

shafoshaf wrote: post #63
bee_rider wrote: post #40

I was initially annoyed at the lack of a headphone jack on my laptop, but USB-C to headphone dongles are very common and good enough for portable use. For desk use, might as well get a devoted DAC/AMP. So, I think they are a waste of space now. Webcams are a waste of bezel space, might as well get a non-junk USB one. Plus you can position it for shots other than up your nose. Give me like 8 USB-C ports and nothing el…

I've tried really hard to understand the outrage of not having a 3.5 mm headphone jack. I have Bose wired headphones and just use a dongle on the plane with my phone and tablet. My Laptop does have a jack, but it would be no big deal to use a dongle. I guess I'm just not an audiophile, but I doubt that many people are. +1 to 8 USB-Cs!

I think it isn’t audiophiles because they’d have an external DAC/AMP anyway.

Speaking for myself, I just had a strong attachment to my sort of middle-of-the-road headphones (Sennheiser HD380 pro). I don’t think anyone could reasonably call them audiophile. But they were expensive “to me” on a student budget, so I was worried/annoyed that somebody would mess with my (in retrospect quite limited) “investment.”

Re: The Perfect Laptop

#103

Post by sonofhans »

wnc3141 wrote: post #91
maximamas wrote: post #46

I'm no die hard apple fan, but you would think I was if you heard me talking about my 16" m1 pro. It's an absolute beast, battery for days, and I've never heard the fan spin up once. It would take a lot for me to even give another machine a chance.

There's something about being very well constructed with high attention to detail / finishes. Growing up my parents had a new Subaru and a much older Mercedes station wagon. As a teen driving both, you could feel the difference in finishes, and overall solidness of the Mercedes, it felt like driving an adequately powered slab of marble where as the much newer Subaru felt, well plastic and fragile in comparison.

Oh, now you’re speaking my language. That’s exactly why I drive old Mercedes station wagons: everything else feels like it’s barely holding together.

Re: The Perfect Laptop

#104

Post by stronglikedan »

silon42 wrote: post #100
pico303 wrote: post #84

> another Apple can’t put my finger on why this is so much better than everyone else things Once you’ve used a Mac touchpad, it’s impossible to go back to a Windows/Linux laptop. I’ve tried…

Personally, I don't like it as it's too large.. and I keep hitting it by mistake... for a while I ran Thinkpads with a touchpad disabled, just using the "nub".

I have both turned on on my thinkpad, but instinctively use the nub 90% of the time. I use the trackpad for scrolling and zooming a lot though. ANd if I'm using it on my couch, I need to turn the trackpad off completely, because my belly keeps activating it. :-/

Re: The Perfect Laptop

#105

Post by not_alexb »

pico303 wrote: post #84

> another Apple can’t put my finger on why this is so much better than everyone else things Once you’ve used a Mac touchpad, it’s impossible to go back to a Windows/Linux laptop. I’ve tried…

I have an M1 and several thinkpads and the M1 always feels like such a chore to use, so no, not even remotely in my case.

Re: The Perfect Laptop

#106

Post by willio58 »

maximamas wrote: post #46

I'm no die hard apple fan, but you would think I was if you heard me talking about my 16" m1 pro. It's an absolute beast, battery for days, and I've never heard the fan spin up once. It would take a lot for me to even give another machine a chance.

I've been rocking this same device for a while now and it's revived my apple fanboyness just a little. The hardware itself gets an A+ from me.

What I really want from Apple at this point is better UX on MacOS. Stage Manager is an interesting idea but, to me, it's not really a fix for any of my problems so I've just disabled it. I've used two 4k external monitors for years on MacOS and the same little annoying bugs plague me. Specifically, I think how MacOS handles full-screen apps is just not quite right. I don't understand why things feel clunky in just this area of the experience. We need what happened in iOS a few years ago when they got rid of the home button and were forced to make opening/closing/switching between apps much more fluid. I need MacOS to feel fluid like that. Then, it'd really be "perfect" for me.

Re: The Perfect Laptop

#107

Post by kayodelycaon »

pico303 wrote: post #84

> another Apple can’t put my finger on why this is so much better than everyone else things Once you’ve used a Mac touchpad, it’s impossible to go back to a Windows/Linux laptop. I’ve tried…

I have a cheap Lenovo Chromebook ($140 MSRP) and the trackpad is nearly as good as an Apple one when running ChromeOS. So it's definitely possible for a cheap machine to have a good trackpad. Why does everything else suck so badly?

Is it just the drivers?

Re: The Perfect Laptop

#108

Post by sonofhans »

pico303 wrote: post #84

> another Apple can’t put my finger on why this is so much better than everyone else things Once you’ve used a Mac touchpad, it’s impossible to go back to a Windows/Linux laptop. I’ve tried…

Apple’s been making better trackpads literally forever, and better drivers, too. I run Windows on an iMac Pro (for gaming) and sometimes use an Apple Magic Trackpad. It’s _dramatically_ worse in Windows than in MacOS.

So, as usual, it’s not just that Apple makes better hardware. They do — their trackpads have always been more precise. But the software interpreting signals from that hardware is much better as well.

In Windows I get more accidental touches turned to clicks; pinch-to-zoom is less reliable; taps are often misinterpreted or missed.

Re: The Perfect Laptop

#109

Post by benbenolson »

I bought a first-generation Framework a couple of years ago, and it's been perfect for me. I don't especially need a thin/light laptop, but what I care about is that it's snappy and sturdy, has a nice keyboard, and can be repaired to last long-term (like the Thinkpad T430 that it replaced). The Framework fits the bill on those fronts, so it earns a long-term position on my nightstand.

Re: The Perfect Laptop

#110

Post by DonHopkins »

maximamas wrote: post #46

I'm no die hard apple fan, but you would think I was if you heard me talking about my 16" m1 pro. It's an absolute beast, battery for days, and I've never heard the fan spin up once. It would take a lot for me to even give another machine a chance.

The M1 finally convinced me to forgive Apple for canceling the Apple ][.
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