Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Bikeshedding, or why I want to build a laptop

geohot.github.io

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

141–150 of 282 posts

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

#141

Post by viraptor »

nehal3m wrote: post #106
sapphire_tomb wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see this comment about how awesome Apple Trackpads are all the time here, and just assumed I was missing out because I'd never used a MacBook. But I got given a MacBook Pro recently for work, and I'm super underwhelmed. The trackpad on it is no better or worse than any other trackpad I've used.

Part of their magic is the integration with the operating system in the form of gestures. Their UI for discovering those used to be stellar; every gesture had a little video preview. Right now I'd describe it as just okay. Check the 'trackpad gestures' section in system settings, or this: https://support.apple.com/en-us/102482

The gestures are there in KDE already https://github.com/NayamAmarshe/ToucheggKDE

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

#142

Post by viraptor »

procaryote wrote: post #86

The framework model is the reasonable approach to people being finnicky about their laptop specs. You can't sustain "I want it just so" and "it needs to be a cnc-machined glued together brick, engineered to the last gramme" at the same time, without a step change in how we build hardware, but the framework comes pretty close If linux power management got a bit better, and there was a good arm chip, it would be a grea…

Maybe soon; https://www.notebookcheck.net/Framework-Laptop-13-gets-ARM-p...

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

#143

Post by vladvasiliu »

JodieBenitez wrote: post #122
morshu9001 wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple trackpads are so good that I prefer that over a full mouse for work

I actually looked for a desktop trackpad for my desktop pc that is on par with my macbook trackpad. Didn't find one available.

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.

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

#144

Post by hshdhdhj4444 »

maccard wrote: post #127
forty wrote: post #90

I think the kind of laptop this person wishes should simply be made illegal to make. We cannot sustain having all electric devices being thrown after a year or two, these things need to last, to be repairable and make it easy to grab pieces and materials when they die anyway

I agree with him. My personal laptop is an m1 MacBook Pro, and 5 years on it’s still a better experience than my work laptop which is a high spec dell with an i9 and 32GB ram. I’m more likely to chuck the dell than upgrade it because whatever combination of stuff it’s doing just doesn’t work. Give me something solid that will last 5 -6 years with a serviceable (I don’t care if it’s glued or torx’ed or whatever in, ju…

The assumption here is that the MacBook is better because of soldering components rather than because Apple simply made a better chip and has a better OS than Windows.

Is there a reason to believe that if Apple didn’t solder memory on, it would make the performance/battery worse, as opposed to making the device slightly heavier/bigger?

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

#145

Post by vladvasiliu »

kmac_ wrote: post #121

There's plenty of good hardware outside the Apple world. Heck, whenever I get convinced to try Apple hardware or software, its quirks and obvious glitches put me off. Input lag is the topmost issue. It immediately washes off the "quality" impression. But I understand that Apple users are used to that and don't notice such issues.

> Input lag is the topmost issue

What do you mean? I haven't daily driven a Mac in almost five years now. I mainly run Linux and occasionally Windows on regular PCs. Whenever I open a MacBook, the first thing I notice is how reactive it feels. Sure, I could do without the animations, but I think that's a different issue. This impression is all the more pronounced if I'd been using Windows just before, but that's probably because Linux is a pretty bare i3 setup.

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

#146

Post by ffsm8 »

hshdhdhj4444 wrote: post #144
maccard wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with him. My personal laptop is an m1 MacBook Pro, and 5 years on it’s still a better experience than my work laptop which is a high spec dell with an i9 and 32GB ram. I’m more likely to chuck the dell than upgrade it because whatever combination of stuff it’s doing just doesn’t work. Give me something solid that will last 5 -6 years with a serviceable (I don’t care if it’s glued or torx’ed or whatever in, ju…

The assumption here is that the MacBook is better because of soldering components rather than because Apple simply made a better chip and has a better OS than Windows. Is there a reason to believe that if Apple didn’t solder memory on, it would make the performance/battery worse, as opposed to making the device slightly heavier/bigger?

Apple Silicon is a slightly customized ARM processor soldered onto a main board. That's not the reason for it's better performance.

Microsofts support for these is still kinda bad ime, which is easily the biggest impact on their battery longevity.

Furthermore, Most super intrusive and performance hindering spyware aka antivirus is only deployed on windows, hence it gets double-punched by having subpar processor support and wastage in the processes running in corporate environments. The latter being the biggest performance impact.

These are however all software, not hardware bound issues

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

#147

Post by layer8 »

I just don’t use laptops. My employer never required me to use one, and with remote logins and WFH there is also little need for mobility. A desktop setup is necessary for good ergonomics anyway, and then you may as well use a desktop computer. In a pinch, I can use an iPad with remote desktop on the go, but the need rarely arises.

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

#148

Post by ACCount37 »

rienbdj wrote: post #138
ACCount37 wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a major reason. Back when TVs were made of tubes, you could expect any tech-savvy guy to be able to learn how to go in there and swap the tubes out. Nowadays? A techpriest that can take apart Apple's iPhone stacked PCB assemblies, replace large BGA components in there, and then put them back together and have it work is a rare specimen. And "rare" means "expensive". A hour of labor of someone who does neurosurge…

why are Apple (Foxconn) assembly workers paid so little?

Because they put assembly in countries with cheap labor, and optimize the assembly process so that most workers don't have to perform any complex operations, or any operations that involve thinking.

Things like PCB manufacturing? Putting those BGA chips where they go? Done entirely by machines.

Now, a notable exception to this rule is the "rework" or "remanufacturing" lines - where actual human specialists take devices that failed QC, or used devices, diagnose them, and bring them up to standard.

Those can be very involved. But official manufacturing still has strict limits on how far are they willing to go - and unofficial refurbishment lines have them beat on repair complexity.

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

#149

Post by makeitdouble »

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…

If I dare to ask, why do you care so much about naming ?

It's something that has always bothered me in reviews as well. To me a product is primarily supposed to be used, and I also don't want to buy a new one every 6 months.

For instance I like my headphones very much, been using them for 4 years now. I did a ton of research and read a bunch of reviews before buying them, and to keep the exact and unique product name somewhere for research, but from the point they were delivered to me whatever they're named has been completely irrelevant. Same for my computer or phone, I could check the marketing name, and there is skew number somewhere on the product, but in my everyday life it's completely useless.

I'd argue having a impossible to remember but perfectly unique and SEO friendly names wins over using common names like Apple does, for my purposes at least.

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

#150

Post by npodbielski »

layer8 wrote: post #147

I just don’t use laptops. My employer never required me to use one, and with remote logins and WFH there is also little need for mobility. A desktop setup is necessary for good ergonomics anyway, and then you may as well use a desktop computer. In a pinch, I can use an iPad with remote desktop on the go, but the need rarely arises.

I agree but as the HN post few months ago about a guy who uses glasses to connect to his phone as an external screen, this would be great. Having ability to work outside and have a nice big screen... thought of working in the summer outside and have a daily dose of vitamin D... Working entire days in my office in my house is comfortable but kind of sad. When you are finally done it is late and sun is setting already.
Post reply on HN