Why not by a Chromebook Pixel (2015)? Seriously.
Agreed. My personal laptop is a Pixel with Crouton to run Linux for development.
We Need a Better PC
221–230 of 699 posts
Re: We Need a Better PC
#222Well, the VAIO Z returns soon after a brief hiatus. Maybe look into those?
Re: We Need a Better PC
#223Earlier quoted context omitted.
Personally, I use far too much mainstream software to be able to run Linux as my only OS, and I hate dual-booting. Sometimes I'll run Linux in a VM for convenience, but Linux is so broken with respect to so much hardware, I'm not interested in running it as the main OS. And running Apple's OS as the top level OS would drive me insane. So unless you're suggesting I try to run Windows 10 on Apple hardware, I agree with…
> And the control key is in the right place (the bottom left corner of the keyboard) ergonomically. That alone kills all Apple hardware for me. Personally I prefer using the caps-lock key as control, which can be set in the system preferences on a mac.
>Personally I prefer using the caps-lock key as control, which can be set in the system preferences on a mac.
Actually that can be set on Windows as well. But my fingers know the bottom-left corner, and Ctrl-ZXCV would be much worse from the caps-lock location. It also messes up the symmetry; I use right-ctrl a lot as well, usually with arrow keys.
Which is another thing the Mac keyboard control gets wrong without plugins. Sigh.
Re: We Need a Better PC
#224I am surprised that the author did not consider Dell. I T410i user, but I will not be buying another thinkpad based on the current line up. Plus I have many issues with Linux drivers. Windows is no more reliable and I am forced to move on. Mac is great but the inability to modify is bugging me. I have a MBP also. Of course, nothing beats a PC but its tough while travelling or when you just want to move around while w…
I'm not sure I get it? Why not just buy a Macbook and install Ubuntu? you get the nicely designed hardware and don't have to run OSX if you don't want to.
I have a rule that a machine has to be with me for atleast 5 years. But around the 3 years, a ram upgrade and hd change is vital to extent the life. My HP Compaq lasted for 8 years before its fell in water. My thinkpad is done 6 yrs and I am current using that. I doubt I get equal life from my soon to be 1 yr mbp without some tweaking and the low score on iFixit is dishearting. iFixit is a great site and I feel it need more attention. I dream is to get a machine with iFixit score of 10.
Re: We Need a Better PC
#225Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think if Google decided to sell the Chromebook Pixel (2015) with Linux instead of ChromeOS, OP, I, and a horde of other developers would all buy it. In reality, it doesn't seem very easy to install Linux on the 2015 Pixel or any other Chromebook without either remembering to press Ctrl+D on each boot or by going through a significant set of hoops.
I want the Pixel for its USB C charging capabilities. the biggest reason I don't get one is because while I have no regrets with wiping windows, I have FOMO about wiping ChromeOS. if the SSD weren't only 64GB... I could put Debian and chrome OS on it.
Have a look at https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton
It lets me run ChromeOS most of the time, and then fire up an Ubuntu session when needed.
Re: We Need a Better PC
#226Earlier quoted context omitted.
the article misses everything. lenovo is not even relevant anymore. Their new keyboards (since 2009!) are complete garbage. his "research" was probably asking some guy at the water cooler "what's a good PC laptop" "lenovo" "thanks"
That was my impression too. I'm not an expert on Windows hardware/devices but from what I hear the Dell XPS 13 is an excellent machine if you don't want a MacBook. Not even mentioning Dell tells me this guy misses a few things.
Fair points. I'm personally not a Dell fan, though I used one for a year that was purchased by my employer, and yes, it didn't completely suck. Just wasn't my first choice.
It did fail as a laptop, though. Something about how it tended to bend on a laptop would cause the physical trackpad "button" to get stuck when it was sitting on a lap in some positions until you picked up the laptop by the sides. :| It was also a lot heavier than my Toshiba.
But as a portable computer, it actually did a fine job.
Re: We Need a Better PC
#227Earlier quoted context omitted.
For developers OSX will almost always be worse than a Linux distro, if only because of package management.
As a developer I work with text all day, a task made thoroughly more pleasant with good font rendering and proper HiDPI support, neither of which are available on Linux. I'll take my 13 inches of Retina display over a pair of 27-inch externals any day. SSH and rsync for remote editing work just fine from an rMBP.
I feel the same way. Every few months I will have a moment where I think, "I really shouldn't be using this small screen 14 hours a day, lets hook up my 22 inch monitor" and I use it for all of 8 minutes before I switch back. The text rendering is absolutely beautiful.
Re: We Need a Better PC
#228Earlier quoted context omitted.
Laptops do not make desktops redundant. You will not be able to strap on a 6" tower H/S or better to cool down the highest performance processors, let alone be able to pack a battery to run said processor and a HP GPU into any laptop form factor. It is true that not every work load needs such a capable machine and you should only spend as much as you need. That being said, I was working with a friend on a recent proj…
I would have thought, given the thrust of my post, that the "for me" with regards to redundancies was completely and wholly implied, no? Of course desktops can do things laptops can't; I've been careful to say nothing at all to the contrary and that's fortunate because that would be a stupid statement. And laptops can do things that desktops can't, too, and whether or not that matters depends wholly on you and your n…
I agree with your assessment for most of your post.
I was mostly responding to:
>Why would somebody who occasionally fly for business necessarily have the cash to burn on redundancies?
It wasn't clear to me that `somebody` was exclusivly referring to you.
Re: We Need a Better PC
#229I feel compelled to bring up how cheap, modular and abundant bad-ass second-hand thinkpads are. Not to mention that even the new-generation keyboards are amazing, and put the shallow crap on my macbook pro to shame. The money you'd spend on even a 'cheap' macbook pro will get you something solidly built with a nice screen that's plenty fast for devlopment work AND money left over for an extra battery or 2 + a brand n…
The IBM T60 is great, and its running price is around $50-65. I've been using a similar model for about a year, and with a lightweight Linux distro, my development efficiency is not decreased due to the performance.
Re: We Need a Better PC
#230Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's hard to say since I mostly use it for heavy-drain stuff. Streaming movies on Netflix, building apps in Android Studio, etc. Always have Chrome running with a ton of tabs. I'd say 6h of use in Ubuntu. The reviews I read say that the battery is better using it with Windows 10 (closer to 10h) but I just can't get my work done in Windows. Overall the battery is not disappointing. Not sure if I can change the battery…
6 hours is not bad at all. (on Linux!) :) I'd be pretty happy with that.
I also have UX305 and I easily get at least 6 hours under moderate loads. Eight or nine with light web-browsing (avoiding javascript pages that spike cpu usage), ten or more with lighter use (text editor).
I installed Ubuntu 14.x and i3 window manager. I have dual boot with original Windows install and power use is comparable between Windows and Linux. It's a pleasure to use. Only power management tweak I made in Ubuntu was to install the TLP power management tool and (I think) make simple change from its defaults: http://linrunner.de/en/tlp/tlp.html