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Bikeshedding, or why I want to build a laptop

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Re: Bikeshedding, or why I want to build a laptop

#181

Post by estimator7292 »

MarsIronPI wrote: post #20

All I want is a thinner Thinkpad X220 but with upped specs and newer ports. Framework-style upgradable motherboard would be nice but optional. The X220 already has a perfect keyboard, a mousing system that doesn't suck (sorry, I've never been happy with a trackpad: they feel too imprecise), a beautiful form factor for a laptop (if I want a laptop, I want it to be 12-14in for easiest portability), it's practically ind…

I would pay almost anything for a Thinkpad T530 with a modern AMD chipset, a high resolution screen, and USB-C.

That thing is my platonic ideal of a laptop

Re: Bikeshedding, or why I want to build a laptop

#182

Post by JodieBenitez »

aorth wrote: post #176
vladvasiliu wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple sells an external trackpad. But AFAIK it requires the computer to have Bluetooth. Not sure how well it works with a non-apple os, though.

The Apple Magic TrackPad works well on Linux, both via Bluetooth and USB-C. I used one for a few years.

Interesting. Are multi-touch gestures supported ?

(like these: https://support.apple.com/en-us/102482 )

Re: Bikeshedding, or why I want to build a laptop

#183

Post by gpm »

viraptor wrote: post #136
daemonologist wrote: post #31

I'm holding out a little bit of hope that Valve puts out a laptop - the Steam Deck has notably good power management for a linux device of its class (and I've even heard of people using them as laptop replacements), though the idle power is still higher than a Macbook. They're going to have made a desktop, gaming handheld, and VR device; why not one more?

What would be the reason for their laptop to exist? People on the move get the steamdeck. Others get the GabeCube. Based on the steam hardware stats / graphics cards, there's very little laptop usage. I'm not sure there's enough market to get them interested.

College students playing video games in class? Also in dorm rooms where they don't have space for a whole monitor/keyboard/mouse setup.

But yeah seems like a game adjacent market... Which might be fine but isn't there MO.

Re: Bikeshedding, or why I want to build a laptop

#184

Post by fizzynut »

chungy wrote: post #55
fizzynut wrote: post #22

Honestly if you actually need high end specs then you should just build a PC. "16 core Zen 5 CPU, 40 core RDNA 3.5 GPU. 64GB of LPDDR5X RAM @ 256 GB/s + stunning OLED" - Easily done as a pc build. In a world where you can get this laptop with Linux, there's a new set of trade-offs - - be prepared for a LOT of things not working because the size of the market for extremely expensive configurations with high end CPU +…

> - when closing the lid and walking to the coffee shop will the battery be dead before you finish your coffee? probably Why probably? Going to sleep on lid close is common enough, it's even the default in all OSes/DEs. If you turn off sleep-on-close and drain the battery, that's on you. > - is the text in your "stunning oled" going to be rendered correctly in linux? probably not > - will the wifi chip work in linux?…

High end machines which can easily pull 100W+ are just bad in general for portability - running at max will last less than 1Hr, will the sleep mode actually work reliably and not drain battery? - this is an issue in most OSes/laptops. Will video playback in the browser not be properly hardware accelerated and drain the battery super fast? yes linux has issues here.

Framework were explicitly ruled out, so: Integrated Oled - you really want some integration, If you can't set the brightness, goodbye lifespan, oled also have many different subpixel layouts which can make the text blurry/fringe, maybe you wont notice but then why buy an oled in the first place for work? While a monitor will definitely have pixel shift/burn in protection built in, if integrating a panel into the laptop without putting in any work, that support might not come out of the box

Even if it was a framework, everything is distro specific, but I think you only need to know that a "dock megathread" exists to realise that "perfectly working" is a stretch and a lot of people have hardware they can't connect and doesn't work.

That said if I was to buy a laptop - a mid end framework I just do the basics with would probably be great.

Re: Bikeshedding, or why I want to build a laptop

#185

Post by makeitdouble »

wiseowise wrote: post #177
makeitdouble wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you go looking for a car will you buy the Peugeot 3008 because it has a higher number than the 208 ? Or will you do research, go to the company site and look at the product description, compare the specs and make your opinion about what best fits your needs ? Right now there's about 5 lines of Surface devices with each their very specific purpose and tradeoffs. I'd be shocked at someone buying one solely based o…

> When you go looking for a car will you buy the Peugeot 3008 because it has a higher number than the 208 ? Or will you do research, go to the company site and look at the product description, compare the specs and make your opinion about what best fits your needs ? You're comparing model to generation, not sure what's that supposed to mean. Yes, I will buy Peugeot 208 over 207 because it is obviously newer. And the…

> You're comparing model to generation, not sure what's that supposed to mean.

If you can accepts different schemes depending on the maker's intent, I really don't get why you're distressed by XBox naming different console lines with different monikers. I guess it all comes down to whether you like the name or not, and there was nothing to argue on from the very start.

> Yes, I will buy Peugeot 208 over 207 because it is obviously newer

That's a disturbing logic to me, but you do you.

Re: Bikeshedding, or why I want to build a laptop

#186

Post by 6510 »

jedbrooke wrote: post #43

> Consumer electronics naming is very simple. Make a good product with a simple name. “iPhone”, “comma”, “Z Fold”. Then every year or two, add one to the number of that product. If it’s a small refresh, you can add a letter after the number. “2 3 3X 4” “4 4s 5 5s 6 …” “2 3 4 5 6 7” Why is this so hard for companies like HP? Oh man I feel this every time there’s a games console launch. I still have no idea what the la…

I like the joke where windows 9,..10,..11 would eventually give us windows 1995 again.

HP is like they assigned good people to the right task, had everyone make a draft, pulled it from their hands and declared it finished. The combined drafts do not resemble a product so they also have someone make a draft solution for that problem.

Re: Bikeshedding, or why I want to build a laptop

#187

Post by aleph_minus_one »

jedbrooke wrote: post #43

> Consumer electronics naming is very simple. Make a good product with a simple name. “iPhone”, “comma”, “Z Fold”. Then every year or two, add one to the number of that product. If it’s a small refresh, you can add a letter after the number. “2 3 3X 4” “4 4s 5 5s 6 …” “2 3 4 5 6 7” Why is this so hard for companies like HP? Oh man I feel this every time there’s a games console launch. I still have no idea what the la…

> Oh man I feel this every time there’s a games console launch. I still have no idea what the latest Xbox is called but Sony gets it right with “Playstation ”

Not so easy: even for old PlaysStations, there existed different versions:

1. PlayStation, PSOne, PlayStation Classic

2. PlayStation 2, PlayStation 2 Slim

3. PlayStation 3, PlayStation 3 Slim, PlayStation 3 Super-Slim

4. PlayStation 4, PlayStation 4 Slim, PlayStation 4 Pro

5. PlayStation 5, PlayStation 5 Digital Edition, PlayStation 5 Slim, PlayStation 5 Digital Edition Slim, PlayStation 5 Pro

And then Sony used the PlayStation branding for other consoles, too:

- PlayStation Portable

- PlayStation Vita

- PlayStation Portal

- PlayStation TV (which is also called PlayStation Vita TV)

Re: Bikeshedding, or why I want to build a laptop

#188

Post by aleph_minus_one »

ndr42 wrote: post #109
jedbrooke wrote: post #43

> Consumer electronics naming is very simple. Make a good product with a simple name. “iPhone”, “comma”, “Z Fold”. Then every year or two, add one to the number of that product. If it’s a small refresh, you can add a letter after the number. “2 3 3X 4” “4 4s 5 5s 6 …” “2 3 4 5 6 7” Why is this so hard for companies like HP? Oh man I feel this every time there’s a games console launch. I still have no idea what the la…

This reminds me of the parody from 20 years ago of what would happen if Microsoft would re-design the iPod packaging - including the name of the product. It seems that nothing has changed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUXnJraKM3k

I admit that this design is not the most aesthetically pleasing one, but it really contains all the relevant information - which in my opinion cannot be said about the Apple packaging.

Re: Bikeshedding, or why I want to build a laptop

#189

Post by andriesm »

If someone makes a linux laptop that is as good as the a bleeding edge apple macbook air, it is shut-up&take-my-money.

But it is hard to imagine a company spending the time to smooth a linux config on their hardware config and make sure it reaches the "just works" that apple has!

Boy would I love it! Please, someone do this! Getting tired of Apple's walled garden become ever more locked up and enshittification.

Re: Bikeshedding, or why I want to build a laptop

#190

Post by dfxm12 »

jedbrooke wrote: post #43

> Consumer electronics naming is very simple. Make a good product with a simple name. “iPhone”, “comma”, “Z Fold”. Then every year or two, add one to the number of that product. If it’s a small refresh, you can add a letter after the number. “2 3 3X 4” “4 4s 5 5s 6 …” “2 3 4 5 6 7” Why is this so hard for companies like HP? Oh man I feel this every time there’s a games console launch. I still have no idea what the la…

Microsoft did that because it thought you were too stupid to understand that the Xbox 2 was the same generation of the ps3.
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