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The best laptop ever made

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Re: The best laptop ever made

#191

Post by mgkimsal »

mehrdada wrote: post #168

I like the new design better and I won’t switch to the previous version. The display alone is significantly superior. While I like the previous design and think the 2015 model is pretty great, it is important to chronicle the history as it actually occurred so let me paint some light on some not so rosy features in 2012: - MacBook Pros in 2012 almost universally had an image burn in issue (on the LG made displays) an…

They weren't design issues as much as manufacturing/parts issues, though. There's nothing to 'fix' with a missing SD card port, or missing USB-A ports. That doesn't mean they may never add them in a future release, but probably won't, as it would admit being 'wrong' (and may be less needed in a few years). I was honestly surprised at the USB-C-only approach (even though I know it's Apple's "way" to just remove stuff altogether). Having a mix of USB-A and USB-C would have made it a much more palatable transition - upgrade, use your old devices as needed, get new ones and use the new USB-C over time.

Re: The best laptop ever made

#192

Post by Jyaif »

majewsky wrote: post #180
chakalakasp wrote: post #9

As someone who just inherited one of these at work and who had never played with a MacBook before, my first thought when seeing the headline was “If it’s not a MacBook Pro 2015, I don’t know what it is”. This thing is pure functional art. The first time my screen just magically unlocked itself because I happened to be wearing a particular watch was the moment nerd-like turned into nerd-love.

The only thing I can think of regarding this story is how it's now an infosec hazard for you to take off your watch while showering.

Removing the watch locks the watch, and makes it unable to unlock other devices.

Re: The best laptop ever made

#193

Post by smackfu »

ytjohn wrote: post #149
dpkonofa wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the USB-A port thing, what reason does anyone have for plugging their phone into their computer anymore, though? Everything about iOS and macOS now supports wireless sync and file transfer. I can't think of a single thing that I'd even need that for...

I'm a fairly happy MBP 2016 user. I would love to have a single USB-A port. And that is because of the logitech unifying receiver[1], the Elecom wireless trackball dongle[2], or the plantronics voyager uc adapter[3]. These are all USB-A and fit almost flush with the laptop, unless you have to attach a usb-c adapter, in which case you have to stick out 2" with a ridid adapter, or a 6" flexible cable adapter. Now you'r…

Surprised Logitech doesn’t sell a $10 USB-C unifying receiver.

Re: The best laptop ever made

#194

Post by bluedino »

lemoncucumber wrote: post #139
blhack wrote: post #76

This makes me so sad. My laptop is a tool that I use for close to 12 (maybe even more!) hours per day. Every single day. It is the tool I use more than any other tool . It is such an important part of my life. It's so important that it work well. I remember when I got my first MBP (it was a 2010 model). I had long been a linux user, and getting the mac was something I had done begrudgingly. I remember how the little…

> I totally get why they dropped the optical drive when they did. Online/flash storage was getting cheap enough and ubiquitous enough that it was a real replacement for CDs. > This is not the case with USB-C, evidenced by the fact that apple doesn't even use it on their own consumer electronics yet (!!!). A better comparison would be when the original iMac abruptly dropped support for SCSI, ADB, and serial in favor o…

>> the original iMac abruptly dropped support for SCSI, ADB, and serial in favor of USB

Except, the next few updates of that iMac brought 2 FireWire ports, a 56k modem port, ethernet, and a Mezzanine slot

Re: The best laptop ever made

#195

Post by bluedino »

chrisparton1991 wrote: post #90

Reparability is the main downside to the retina MPBs for me. With my old MBP I could swap out the battery in 30 seconds, and I could upgrade the RAM. Neither of these are possible any more. That said, I'm still using my 2012 retina MBP and it's going great. These things are built to last!

Upgrade-ability forced me to selle mine last year. I had on of the low-end models with 8GB/256GB and needed more space and memory.

Re: The best laptop ever made

#196

Post by camgunz »

platinumrad wrote: post #160
camgunz wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey! I just got a couple X62s last weekend. Quality control is an issue, but only kind of. There's a warranty and the 51nb people are super cool and helpful. Some people go all out with the backlight mod etc, but the only reason I'd do that is improved battery life; the regular backlight suits me fine. Other than that, it's an amazing machine. I used an X60 for years and it's just like that, but better in basically e…

If you don't mind answering how was your experience with the ordering process? Did you get them via LCDfans or did you use a proxy in China? Did you order them assembled or did you put the motherboards in X61s that you acquired separately? Thanks!

Of course!

I tried a few different ways; ordering was kind of difficult. I tried a couple PMs on Reddit which got lost, I tried the order form a couple times from facebook.com/lcdfans but that didn't work out either. Then I sent a Facebook message, Jacky responded and we started emailing. That worked. I think their email addresses are listed on the FB page. Basically the strategy is to be relentless haha.

Ordering itself took more than a month; I think I wired money 10/5 and finally got them 11/10.

I did order them assembled and they were perfectly new, no blemishes, scratches or anything. They're so new it's eerie (because all the parts are new old stock), except it's such a beautiful experience you don't care. I think the shell I got was an X61s; I still have that X60 and there are some small differences (no infrared, for example), but they mod them - ex: for the video outputs - so it's possible they do other tiny mods also.

I ordered 2; one was completely fine, the 2nd freezes with 2 DIMMs installed (works fine w/ 1) and I haven't decided whether or not to warranty it.

All of which is to say that you're right, it's significantly more effort than just loading up Amazon and clicking a few times, but I love ThinkPads so it was completely worth it to me. Even with 1 DIMM I'm super satisfied - so I guess either I'm completely in the tank or they're really great haha.

LMK if you have any more questions :)

Re: The best laptop ever made

#197

Post by pizza234 »

thijsvandien wrote: post #55
pizza234 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are companies that professionally laminate screens with a (removable) matte screen protector. Once you'll laminate a glossy screen, you'll never want to go back again. I don't know in USA, but in Europe, a German company does it: http://www.tdcomponents.com/shop/displayschutz_laminierung.p...

The foil seems to cost around 40 EUR. What would be the total price to have them apply it for you?

That includes application; you'll need to add the shipping costs to your country.

Of course, you'll pay the shipment to the company.

Re: The best laptop ever made

#198

Post by ashildr »

I don’t see a donglegate - I’m carrying

- current MacBook-Escape

- 29W USB-C Power brick

- USB-C Cable

- USB-C to Lightning Cable (iPhones and iPad)

- USB-C to HDMI/USB Adaptor I bought for EUR10

Re: The best laptop ever made

#199

Post by ashildr »

felippee wrote: post #167
sitharus wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But you have backups right? Betting on data recovery is a really poor strategy, you might drop your laptop under a truck.

Yeah sure. But sometimes you are traveling, without access to your backup. Or something did not yet make it to the backup. Or whatever, 100 other situations. Making SSD soldered on as opposed to putting a $3 connector just adds to fragility. On $3k laptop. No thanks.

So a connector is /less/ fragile than a soldered connection? I don’t think so.

If you’re really depending that much on the ad-hoc access to a backup, drop an additional external SSD in your bag and add it to timemachine. That’s even more secure. I highly doubt that you are currently packing an external adapter to transplant your internal SSD to in case your notebook fails....

Re: The best laptop ever made

#200

Post by mehrdada »

mgkimsal wrote: post #191
mehrdada wrote: post #168

I like the new design better and I won’t switch to the previous version. The display alone is significantly superior. While I like the previous design and think the 2015 model is pretty great, it is important to chronicle the history as it actually occurred so let me paint some light on some not so rosy features in 2012: - MacBook Pros in 2012 almost universally had an image burn in issue (on the LG made displays) an…

They weren't design issues as much as manufacturing/parts issues, though. There's nothing to 'fix' with a missing SD card port, or missing USB-A ports. That doesn't mean they may never add them in a future release, but probably won't, as it would admit being 'wrong' (and may be less needed in a few years). I was honestly surprised at the USB-C-only approach (even though I know it's Apple's "way" to just remove stuff…

The poor implementation of keyboard and TouchBar are not design issues either. Add haptic feedback and TouchBar can get GREAT.

I do miss SD card a little bit, but it is no big deal, and I don't get all the fuss with USB-A at all. If you have an Android, MacBook is really made for you. If you have an iPhone you just got to grab a USB-C to Lightning cable (not dongles) and get on with your file. At your desk you really need a compatible monitor/dock anyway. So they are rather obvious choices medium to long term and hardly a design flaw. You could argue about the smaller battery and lower key pitches as a potential long term prioritization issue, but I think they just get better implementations that alleviate concerns under the current form-factor.

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