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We Need a Better PC

blog.dcpos.ch

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Re: We Need a Better PC

#291

Post by touristtam »

awongh wrote: post #159

I had a thinkpad running ubuntu for a couple of years, around 2010-2013, but I was forced to switch to a mbp for one simple reason: About 1/10 of the time when I would be at a coffee shop or something and would try to connect to the wi-fi router, ubuntu simply wouldn't be able to connect. This thinkpad had one of the officially supported wifi chips in it, and it still didn't work. Lots of forum posts told me to downg…

I can relate: I have a X230 at home with Ubuntu 14.10 and the wifi has a weird tendency to disconnect and then have a hard time trying to reconnect.

Re: We Need a Better PC

#292

Post by tallanvor »

dcposch wrote: post #57
voltagex_ wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Add me to the rage brigade. I think the OP has missed the Microsoft "Signature" edition products. They're a clean Windows 10 image and you buy direct from Microsoft. I just wish they'd sell me the XPS 13 9350 (the highest spec'd one) in Australia. Edit: AFAICT a lot of the battery life on a MacBook comes from the way OS X works - friends who use Bootcamp tell me it significantly reduces their battery time.

> I think the OP has missed the Microsoft "Signature" edition products. They're a clean Windows 10 image Yeah that sounds interesting. Looks like they have Lenovo hardware too. I'll check them out.

They do. I bought a Lenovo from the Microsoft store. No crapware at all (well, you can debate about some of the driver update software both from Lenovo and Intel, but definitely no added root certificates and such).

Re: We Need a Better PC

#293

Post by justaaron »

all these comments to debate what is actually still a standing point:

name a non-mac laptop that' doesn't suck

(is it injection molded plastic with a screen that will eventually flop flop flop? then it sucks!)

then let's find a distro that doesn't suck! (does in include binary blob drivers? then it sucks! is it unity? then it sucks!)

Re: We Need a Better PC

#294

Post by touristtam »

tomsthumb wrote: post #184
joshAg wrote: post #143

For those who don't know much about non-Apple PCs: The only laptops worth considering are the enterprise lines from dell hp, and lenovo. They are night and day differences from the consumer products, because they are usually entirely separate divisions. Within this, certain lines are better than others. For example, with lenovo I would only really consider a t-series, w-series, or x-series. The p-series looks promisi…

Lenovo T-series and W-series both had trash tier track pads last time I used either of them. Literally un-fucking-usable. For the first time in my life I got a tiny usb mouse to carry with me. My cardiologist wouldn't stop complaining about my blood pressure. Writing haskell should not be easier than right clicking. Maybe they're different now, but if not, I mean, great scott that's terrible. The keyboards were about…

Funny, I always use the nipple instead of the trackpad on any Thinkpad I have ever used.

Re: We Need a Better PC

#295

Post by vok5 »

I bought a Lafité here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/notebooks/lafiteII/.

I believe it is a rebranded Clevo, which is custom-built for you. Lately, I changed the WiFi card without any issue. You can also change the SSD if you want, same for the RAM. The best parts are: Build quality, price (you don't pay for the OS, only if you want to and you get to pay for parts you want), keyboard is nice, lightweight and screen is great.

Re: We Need a Better PC

#296

Post by ekianjo »

microtonal wrote: post #266
ekianjo wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A few reasons: - you have way more packages on any Linux package manager. - Linux package managers do not mess with /usr/local as expected in a UNIX compatible OS. Homebrew does. Linux package managers run as root, not in user-space. - Apparently Homebrew gets broken by Apple software/OS updates. - Linux package managers are an integral part of the OS environment and update process - it's structured this way even for…

- you have way more packages on any Linux package manager. And Homebrew tends to be more up to date then most distribution repositories. Especially if I want to have a stable OS. Linux package managers do not mess with /usr/local as expected in a UNIX compatible OS. Homebrew does. You can install Homebrew in another directory, it works fine. Linux package managers are an integral part of the OS environment and update…

> Decoupling the installation of applications from the base operating system is a good thing.

How is that a good thing if an application needs some core OS features that are not available in its current state? Newer libraries become available for all software and benefit from the upgrades. And yeah, sometimes some things break, but it's easy enough to roll back to a previous library version if you need to, instead of bloating the system with multiple versions of different libraries.

> You can install Homebrew in another directory, it works fine.

But it's not its default. How many users change its directory ?

> And Homebrew tends to be more up to date then most distribution repositories. Especially if I want to have a stable OS.

Honestly you can't compete with AUR (Arch) on that level.

Re: We Need a Better PC

#297

Post by eosrei »

jordanthoms wrote: post #252
Symbiote wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Mostly true, but you may want to look into Divvy (which makes it very easy to maximize and manage windows) and TotalSpaces2. I'd rather deal with these issues and run a ubuntu VM for some things than deal with the cornucopia of crap that is the PC laptop market but hopefully some day that will change.

> cornucopia of crap that is the PC laptop market

Haha! High-end Dell and ASUS machines are good, but the lack of Apple competition is why Microsoft made the Surface Book. "We gave you nearly twenty years to make something good! Fine! We'll do it ourselves."

Re: We Need a Better PC

#298

Post by manigandham »

CES revealed a bunch of new laptops that seem promising: LG Gram 15 [1], Samsung Notebook 9 [2], Dell 7000 Series [3]

1. http://www.lg.com/us/laptops/lg-gram-15Z960-A.AA75U1-ultra-s...

2. http://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-introduces-new-notebo...

3. http://www.theverge.com/2016/1/6/10720212/dell-latitude-13-w...

Re: We Need a Better PC

#300

Post by touristtam »

jmspring wrote: post #125

Post didn't address - buy apple hardware, run something other than OS X on it. Seems simple. Sure you are locked to apple hardware issues/resolutions, but Apple today is what the Thinkpad was for years (pre-Lenovo), hardware mostly just works. Insert arguments of customization, configurability, etc... Most people don't care. Lenovo doesn't deliver as well as IBM did on the Thinkpad line. What's the alternative beside…

I have used five (5) post IBM Thinkpad and the build quality has been absolutely fine and they mostly just work as you put it. And all of them have been reinstalled with Ubuntu at some point.
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