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The Last PC Laptop

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Re: The Last PC Laptop

#131

Post by keithpeter »

fhars wrote: post #84
buro9 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Train rides are kind of boring. Why wouldn't I get out my laptop on a train? To allow yourself a momentary disconnect. To watch the world out of the window, or the people around you. To take an interest in the weather and season. To give your mind a chance to digest what you mean to do or what you have done. I cherish my time travelling from one place to another, even if that is just a walk to the shops, a trip on…

> To watch the world out of the window, It's the same tunnel it was yesterday. And the day before. And last week. And last year. Come to think of it, the tunnel hasn't changed much since it's inauguration in 1984. And the soundwalls lining the surface parts of the railway line aren't that captivating either.

In my case, the track ways have not changed since 1860 or so. However we go through the 'green belt' (UK) between a large city and a smaller town. One notices changes with the seasons, new makeshift huts in the allotments, the sky and light is always different. A bit of the wabi-sabi really - same frame, but small changes.

I can tell which station we are pulling into by the sound and the feel of the track! Sometimes, I leave early on a Friday and walk the 10 miles back by canal footpaths.

Re: The Last PC Laptop

#132

Post by graue »

ossij wrote: post #36
abecedarius wrote: post #15

Along with this, I'm considering the Thinkpad X1 Carbon or the Samsung Series 9 -- they're all advertised as lightweight, powerful, and with more vertical resolution than the usual piddling 768px. Anyone tried them and want to weigh in? http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2012/08/a-worthy-ultrabook-ap... (edit: previous discussion at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4428262 ) I'm leaning towards the Thinkpad since I g…

I reviewed Thinkpad X1 Carbon, Samsung Series 9 and both Zenbooks recently (tech journo here) at our test lab. Samsung has the best battery-per-weight ratio, but it has the worst screen out of the three. Still better than average, except its gamut which is typical = bad. The screen is the brightest out of three and 2nd best in contrast after Zenbook. The mouse has some problems, it likes to think you meant to select/…

I considered all the laptops you mention and settled on the 13" Air. What's wrong with its display? I think it looks great, and seems to have a very wide viewing angle.

Re: The Last PC Laptop

#133

Post by linker3000 »

rbanffy wrote: post #107
RexRollman wrote: post #81

He does bring out a point about something I have never understood: why does the PC industry love putting stickers on laptops? It is a really annoying and ugly practice.

I'd assume the small "Intel inside" and "Designed for Windows" ones (as well as the "X recommends Windows Y" notices on product pages) are in some extent considered paid advertising, as they ate part of pricing agreements.

Yep, back in the days when I was involved with a PC assembly company, the Intel Inside marketing programme had financial benefits for those who put the stickers on their machines.

Re: The Last PC Laptop

#134

Post by SilasX »

brador wrote: post #3

Is this an ad or genuine? I'd trust it more if it didn't come with an amazom affiliate link.

I thought it was parody, myself, because the bottom half of that laptop looks exactly like a MacBook Air, down to the arrows, slot ordering, and specs, and yet not once does he mention the "elephant in the room" of how it compares to the MB-A.

Re: The Last PC Laptop

#135

Post by SilasX »

calinet6 wrote: post #99
Derbasti wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Someone needs to stop trying to arrange their life around their tech and try it the other way around. I work on my laptop on my commute on the train. This saves me two hours every day and allows me to live in a beautiful place. Someone does indeed needs to stop trying to arrange their life around their tech and try it the other way around, Mr. IT Manager For a High Tech Company with a ridiculously giant phone, a ne…

Watch your back. I know two people who have been mugged after using a laptop on a train or subway.

Related: I took a late (~11 pm) transbay bus home a few nights ago (San Francisco to Berkeley), and in between some stops, the bus driver started scream, "Put y' phones up! Put y' phones away! Turn 'em off and put 'em away!" and then repeated that several times.

The passengers and I looked at each other like "WTF?" (Is this a plane now?) but since she seemed rather adamant, and wasn't going to go on to the next stop until we complied, we all put our phones away. Then the driver said, "I'm just trying to warn you here, people outside can see you on y' phones, you has to watch out."

Then, at the stop, some teens got on that looked sort of sketchy, and it occurred to me, "The driver was trying to warn us not to show our smartphones because she thought the people at the next stop would try to steal them."

Of course, I still thought it was overkill because the kids didn't look nearly dangerous enough for me to worry about my safety or possessions (though they did flout the bus rules), and there were enough people on the bus that a criminal wouldn't want to try anything, but it got me to think about a risk that I hadn't before.

Re: The Last PC Laptop

#136

Post by meddlepal »

lttlrck wrote: post #97
dsr_ wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The odds are pretty good that someone on your train works is quite interesting. For example... I happen to know that if I take a commuter line into Boston in the morning, I am likely to encounter one or more of: a senior scientist at an R&D lab, a bunch of Google programmers and engineers, a non-profit fundraising expert, or an IP lawyer. I don't know what the guy with the MongoDB sticker on his laptop does, but even…

Wow. People talk to each on the T? Never seen it.

I've seen it, but usually they are some brand of crazy.

Re: The Last PC Laptop

#138

Post by robin_reala »

pja wrote: post #118
jawngee wrote: post #30

Interestingly, I'm having the opposite thing happen. Due to this MacBook Pro Retina (I have the fully spec'd version), I firmly believe that my Mac Pro will be the last desktop computer I own. While the Mac Pro (about a year old) still smokes this laptop in a lot of areas, it's not enough smoke that I find myself turning it on half as much as I used to after I got this laptop. Occasionally, if I'm doing some heavy du…

The Mac Pro is woefully out of date at this point: It's almost as if they've abandoned that line of hardware altogether. Has Apple actually said that they're going to bring the hardware up to date?

Yes, but not until next year some point: http://www.macrumors.com/2012/06/12/apple-spokesperson-confi...

Re: The Last PC Laptop

#139

Post by cturner »

w1ntermute wrote: post #120
cturner wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've installed ubuntu on the x1 carbon this weekend after hacker news recommendations about thinkpads for linux. UK model with US-English keyboard, i5 processor. Seems to be flawless with ubuntu. All drivers worked out of the box. Wireless, audio, suspend, wake up, volume keys on keyboard, battery warning. I've been able to use 'CompizConfig Settings Manager' to hack unity to be the way I want. I found a way to disab…

> I'd recommend against buying it for Windows use. I tried it for a couple of days just to see what it was like. It comes preloaded with lots of rubbish (including aggressive Norton popups) and no install media. Awful. The base installation took up half of the 128GB hard disk, which seemed crazy. I uninstalled as much junk as I could, and it worked OK for a bit but later my VPN client stopped working. I think that an…

Great description, thanks.
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