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The Perfect Laptop

blog.brossia.com

251–260 of 354 posts

Re: The Perfect Laptop

#251
post #147
post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not a bad pointing device, that's the thing. I can use a Mac with a trackpad for pretty much anything, including image editing. It's precise, doesn't do ghost clicks/taps, and it's BIG I never found a non-Mac with a trackpad I could use _at all_. I always need a mouse to use my windows laptop...

These days, even mice annoy me. Trackball or bust. Trackpads are better than touchscreen interfaces though.

I find touchscreens fine in the right form factor (handheld, mainly), but I’ll never get the appeal of a touchscreen on a device running a desktop OS. Reaching up to touch a laptop screen feels awkward and laptop screens are some of the worst when it comes to rejecting fingerprints.

Re: The Perfect Laptop

#252

The perfect laptop (objectively) is the 15" 2015 RMBP. For those few glorious years Apple had a keyboard better than even the old Thinkpads. I'd give anything for that chassis/keyboard combo with an M2 chip in it.

You got downvoted because M1/M2 MBP 16" has practically the same keyboard and chassis as 2015. I own both (2015 and 2021). The keyboard is much better than 2016-2020

Re: The Perfect Laptop

#253

[flagged]

At the time I bought my Framework, I paid $1,200 for a DIY edition including 3rd party purchase of 32GB RAM and 1TB SSD (Samsung 980 Pro). The cheapest Apple laptop that can be configured to those RAM and storage specs is the 14" Macbook Pro at $2,600. The 15" MBA cannot even be configured with 32GB RAM, is heavier than the 13" Framework, and I believe still only supports a single external monitor compared to Framework's 4.

I guess it comes down to personal preference, but for me the Framework was plenty good enough and definitely worth the >2x cost savings.

Re: The Perfect Laptop

#255
post #227

Gosh, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen1 and Gen2 are awful, dreadful, terrible machines. I can understand having a thermal constraint tied to the thinness of chassis, but you would think it’d maybe throttle instead of shutting off in the middle of work. After blowing through 4 separate nano configurations all with the same fundamental problem and riddled with quality issues and borderline abusive support getting bounc…

That's interesting, I've been running a Nano Gen1 for over a year now with no issues whatsoever (running both Linux and Windows).

What I have had happen is my work Dell machine (Windows) shutting off if it overheats. I have to make sure it's on a surface that does not heat up and lets air flow freely. Resting it on the couch will kill it within 10-20 minutes.

I use the Nano from the couch/bed for hours with no issues.

Re: The Perfect Laptop

#256
> a large, quality touchpad backed by great software > another Apple can’t put my finger on why this is so much better than everyone else things

I was gonna say, I don't use Apple devices anymore but no one makes touchpads like Apple. I have no idea what it is or why it's apparently so hard to replicate, but MacBook touchpads seem to intuitively work exactly how I expect them to, to the point that they're pretty much as seamless to use as a mouse. No non-Mac model I'd used before or since measures up.

Re: The Perfect Laptop

#257

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 very happy with the 16” M1 Pro’s I’ve done work on. It’s probably the first laptop I’ve used where the load threshold at which its fans make noticeable noise feels somewhat appropriate (rather than spinning up for little to no reason), its power level feels more desktop-class than laptop-class, and I don’t have to keep my eye glued to the battery meter even when running heavy IDEs.

I’m even kinda happy about the notch, because it prompted Apple to add a strip of extra pixels for the menubar to live in, leaving the remaining 16:10 area fully open for use by apps.

The only downside is its weight, but given all of its other upsides I can live with that.

Re: The Perfect Laptop

#258
post #253

[flagged]

At the time I bought my Framework, I paid $1,200 for a DIY edition including 3rd party purchase of 32GB RAM and 1TB SSD (Samsung 980 Pro). The cheapest Apple laptop that can be configured to those RAM and storage specs is the 14" Macbook Pro at $2,600. The 15" MBA cannot even be configured with 32GB RAM, is heavier than the 13" Framework, and I believe still only supports a single external monitor compared to Framewo…

Macbooks use unified memory and ARM SoCs and substantially outperform Intel machines with nearly double the battery life. The MBAs can use two external displays either 4k@120 or 6k@60. There’s also a big usability difference between a 15 and 13 inch display. My MBA 15 w 16GB memory 70W charger and 512GB SSD (you need that for the full speed IO) cost me under $1500, granted w the educational discount. I also got $150 gift card, which I used to buy a discounted iPad Pro and then I got another $100 gift card again. So Apple is pricey sure but still very affordable. I think framework laptops are a gimmick but to each their own

Re: The Perfect Laptop

#259
post #7

> the body of a 12" laptop I've always owned 15" laptops, and i've never had any trouble fitting them in bags, even in a sleeve. I understand why people might want 7" or 10" netbooks, but a 12" machine just seems like a waste of space to me. I understand that most people feel very differently, though! > webcam that doesn’t make it look like your laptop (or you) are a potato during a videoconference And also doesn't l…

I believe the primary appeal of a 12” laptop is that it’s the smallest that one can make a laptop while still having a full size keyboard. Any smaller and you have to start shrinking keys, which has strong negative effects on usability.

This is part of why the 12” MacBook and its spiritual ancestor, the 12” PowerBook G4 were popular.

Re: The Perfect Laptop

#260
post #227

Gosh, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen1 and Gen2 are awful, dreadful, terrible machines. I can understand having a thermal constraint tied to the thinness of chassis, but you would think it’d maybe throttle instead of shutting off in the middle of work. After blowing through 4 separate nano configurations all with the same fundamental problem and riddled with quality issues and borderline abusive support getting bounc…

Perhaps it's something as simple as bad thermal paste application
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