We Need a Better PC • Hacker News Board

Re: We Need a Better PC

#231

Post by Symbiote » Wed, Feb 17, 2016, 7:15 AM UTC

knights123 wrote: post #90

It seems like you should really just buy a MacBook Pro. Sure the software isn't perfect, but it's an order of magnitude closer to perfect than Windows has been lately. You buy it, boot it up, and it works wonderfully. Of course the one day out of the year that it doesn't you go rage comment on how it sucks and it scares Windows users away from Mac, but the rest of the time you'd never consider going back to a typical…

Is it really only one day a year for you? I was given the latest MBP for my new job, which was the first time I'd used a Mac.

The external keyboard uses a non standard USB port. That's broken.

It's not easy to maximise a window fully. Apparently I'm not supposed to do this, but I don't like being told how I'm supposed to use a computer.

Focus follows mouse can't be done.

There are very few ways the window manager can be customised.

Homebrew lacks many packages. Coming from Debian / Ubuntu, the package repository was always the first place to look when I needed some software.

The window manager plus homebrew pushed me to using Kubuntu after a month. It doesn't yet support using a high dpi display at the same time as a normal, external display, but that's all.

Re: We Need a Better PC

#232

Post by NamTaf » Wed, Feb 17, 2016, 7:16 AM UTC

TulliusCicero wrote: post #120

NamTaf wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In which dystopia does it cost you $1000's to fly locally, as many would do? I can cross my goddamn continent for $600 return and that's over 4000km away. Going interstate costs $200 return on a good day.

Presumably you are flying more frequently than once per computer purchase.

Sure, but the marginal utility of a given flight is far higher than the marginal utility of a second computer. Moreover, I may be paying for my computer but my company may be paying for my flights.

Re: We Need a Better PC

#233

Post by josteink » Wed, Feb 17, 2016, 7:16 AM UTC

So he says there are some good computers out there (like the Lenovo Carbon X1), but due to his bad luck and timing on his part it's a bad choice for another month.

If you just wipe Windows clean on those Lenovos and use them for Linux (Fedora runs great on them!) you wont have to worry about those Superfish issues and everything else plaguing the world of windows-users.

I can see why you would decide not to want to reward Lenovo with your money after those incidents, but it's still some of the best you are going to get.

Re: We Need a Better PC

#234

Post by akkartik » Wed, Feb 17, 2016, 7:19 AM UTC

smacktoward wrote: post #196

nl wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there any chance they'll update the version of Ubuntu? 12.04 is.. old.

The current models ship with 14.04: http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/xps-13-linux/pd

Does this link work for anyone else?

Re: We Need a Better PC

#235

Post by rmm » Wed, Feb 17, 2016, 7:19 AM UTC

Microsoft Surface Book.

Easily the best device i have used in a very long time. Expensive (especially the i7 dGPU option) but i am amazed at how good this machine is.

Huge battery life, powerful when it needs to be. Connect to a dock and you have a powerful desktop.

Currently use it when im working in the office doing design work (plugged into a couple of Dell U2715H) then when i am out on mine sites use it as a portable machine in the field.

The tablet mode and pen is just a cherry on top. Writing notes in the field, marking up drawings etc. ridiculously easy.

i love it.

Re: We Need a Better PC

#236

Post by ricksplat » Wed, Feb 17, 2016, 7:19 AM UTC

hartator wrote: post #210

habosa wrote: post #113

Not disagreeing with the premise, but just want to plug a machine I am very happy with. I was a lifetime mac owner (since OS 9) and my 2010 Macbook Pro finally broke down this year. It made it that long because I doubled the RAM, replaced the battery, and replaced the HDD with a hybrid drive. Finally the battery puffed up and exploded. I brought it to the Apple Store and they were beyond useless. The new MBPs are not…

I think if you are spending more than 10 hours per day on your laptop, price shouldn't matter. On a side note, you've missed the retina thing, it's making a true difference.

I've had retina for the last couple of years and while it's a nice bit of fluff I'd take software & service reliability over it any day

Re: We Need a Better PC

#237

Post by xerophyte12932 » Wed, Feb 17, 2016, 7:21 AM UTC

rtpg wrote: post #38

PaulHoule wrote: post #2

Don't get a a laptop. The pc industry is doomed with phone envy. Desktop machines are one place you can really do better.

I can't bring my desktop to any environment, therefore it's a non-starter. I _do_ think it's interesting to think "maybe buying 1 (even 2) desktops is actually better for me than buying 1 laptop", but I cannot bring my desktop to the library. I feel like this comment is on the same level as "don't buy a phone, you can do better with a laptop", which is absurd on a similar level without extra context.

My personal solution is a desktop and a 7-inch tablet. Sure the tablet loses some of the power as compared to a laptop, but huge portability gain. And it fits my use case. I don't write code while on the move. I do that at my desk. For all other use cases like consumption of data or even blogging, the tablet works.

Re: We Need a Better PC

#238

Post by garyclarke27 » Wed, Feb 17, 2016, 7:23 AM UTC

Macbook Pro is best windows pc - runs perfectly via bootcamp. So much better than slower flackier virtual options - i tried all of them - fast reboot so easy to switch. I need windows for 64 bit Excel 2016 much fatser than mac 32 bit only. 2 diplay ports also great- drives 2 32 inch high res monitors perfectly.

Re: We Need a Better PC

#239

Post by SamReidHughes » Wed, Feb 17, 2016, 7:24 AM UTC

euske wrote: post #131

There are many independent laptop PC manufacturers in Japan. Panasonic Let's Note (cf. http://panasonic.jp/pc/ ) is known to have excellent battery life while being decent. Laptops from Mouse Computer (cf. http://www.mouse-jp.co.jp/ ) have almost no pre-installed crap. Unfortunately, many of them don't sell outside the country. They're probably too small/thin to Western people. People tend to think a 17-inch laptop "…

Mouse's NB900 model is just a rebranded Clevo P750DM. The other models look pretty Clevo-ey too.

Re: We Need a Better PC

#240

Post by stock_toaster » Wed, Feb 17, 2016, 7:24 AM UTC

hartator wrote: post #210

habosa wrote: post #113

Not disagreeing with the premise, but just want to plug a machine I am very happy with. I was a lifetime mac owner (since OS 9) and my 2010 Macbook Pro finally broke down this year. It made it that long because I doubled the RAM, replaced the battery, and replaced the HDD with a hybrid drive. Finally the battery puffed up and exploded. I brought it to the Apple Store and they were beyond useless. The new MBPs are not…

I think if you are spending more than 10 hours per day on your laptop, price shouldn't matter. On a side note, you've missed the retina thing, it's making a true difference.

But it has a matte screen, which sounds glorious!

I am still using a seemingly ancient macbook pro 15" 2009 model, simply because it has a matte screen, yet still runs the latest OSX. The super glossy screens make my eyes hurt after a while. I have been hoping that some day the glossiness gets down to a level that I can tolerate enough to get a newer macbook. However, if my laptop ends up giving up the ghost along the way though... I may look at using something like the matte screen zenbook discussed by the parent, and running FreeBSD or OpenBSD on it.