We Need a Better PC • Hacker News Board

Re: We Need a Better PC

#321

Post by Zarel » Wed, Feb 17, 2016, 8:36 AM UTC

tluyben2 wrote: post #307

eosrei wrote: post #301

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You seem to have only looked at the older PCs. Have you looked at the Dell XPS 13 or Microsoft Surface Book? They may dispel your complaints. You can even buy the XPS with Ubuntu.

Worthless battery life for such costly machines. I would've bought the XPS 13 with Ubuntu otherwise. Edit: I read reviews like this http://www.iretron.com/blog/posts/dell-xps-13-is-a-major-dis... cannot find the other ones though. It is better than I remember; I thought it was worse. Still; 6 hours is not really usable in my book.

I googled around and found this:

http://www.trustedreviews.com/dell-xps-13-2015-review-batter...

which gives a rated battery life of 18 hours and a real-world use battery life of 9-10 hours

http://www.laptopmag.com/articles/dell-xps-13-battery-life-f...

This article suggests a battery life of 12 hours.

What kind of battery life are you expecting?

Re: We Need a Better PC

#322

Post by glossyscr » Wed, Feb 17, 2016, 8:36 AM UTC

Not disagreeing but there is one notebook and this is how the Macbook should have been:

- Same build quality as Apple

- Thin and light as the Macbook

- Pixel density higher than Retina

- Powerful CPU

- Just released

http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-systems/razer-blade-stealth

Re: We Need a Better PC

#323

Post by perlgeek » Wed, Feb 17, 2016, 8:37 AM UTC

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…

... and god help you if you ever need the Asus customer support for repairing that thing. A truely horrible experience.

I can provide details of my "experience" with them, but the Internet is already full of horror stories that cover everything that is to say about that topic.

And no, buying a new laptop after a year and a half simply isn't acceptable to me, even if it makes sense in your economic situation.

Re: We Need a Better PC

#324

Post by radicalbyte » Wed, Feb 17, 2016, 8:39 AM UTC

voltagex_ wrote: post #20

xlayn wrote: post #12

Do you like the MacBook but don't like the OS? go ahead and change it, you can have triple boot. Tiny fonts and pop ups doesn't have anything to do with the machine you are going to buy (unless you also want the website). HP makes the elitebook, magnesium construction a la thinkpad. And last but not least I would like to give this entry the RAGE post award, nomination points for What I want is a computer with: -Decen…

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.

Correct, using OSX I still get 7-8hrs battery life from a 2 year old MBP.

Windows 10 via dual-boot empties the battery in around 3hrs.

Re: We Need a Better PC

#325

Post by coldtea » Wed, Feb 17, 2016, 8:40 AM UTC

askafriend wrote: post #303

chjohasbrouck wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have both, and I find the things that Macs have that everything else is missing just aren't articulated on a spec sheet. The display on the Macbook Pro Retina is just flawless. The colors, the anti-glare, and the picture quality from all angles, it's just really well done. The brushed aluminum chassis makes it very cool and lightweight, great to travel with and keep on your lap. Excellent battery life. It's just a…

Not to mention that the entire casing of the MacBook acts as a heatsink, which is really just awesome design.

Except for the bizarro people that seem to use their Macbooks on their bare laps (doing sauna?)

Re: We Need a Better PC

#326

Post by coldtea » Wed, Feb 17, 2016, 8:41 AM UTC

tluyben2 wrote: post #305

hartator wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

That depends on your taste. I bought my first retina macbook pro last year and I really don't like it compared to my Air. Actaully it's rotting in a cupboard now because of the ghastly battery life. I agree with the premise; computers are locked down and cheap build quality in general. But for me only battery life matters, so I bought a stack (from a broker; it was very cheap) of Lenovo X220s with a 9 cell batteries…

>That depends on your taste. I bought my first retina macbook pro last year and I really don't like it compared to my Air

You might not like the form compared to the Air. Very few won't like the retina compared to the Air's monitor.

Re: We Need a Better PC

#327

Post by chaostheory » Wed, Feb 17, 2016, 8:42 AM UTC

vatotemking wrote: post #318

chaostheory wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agree. I just don't understand why MS has to call it a Surface. It's confusing since there are so many different MS devices that are called Surface.

You forgot the "Book" part. I guess its for branding.

You can add whatever you want to the end of its name; it's still confusing. This is probably one reason why the blog's author isn't aware of it.

Re: We Need a Better PC

#328

Post by jbk » Wed, Feb 17, 2016, 8:43 AM UTC

tluyben2 wrote: post #307

eosrei wrote: post #301

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You seem to have only looked at the older PCs. Have you looked at the Dell XPS 13 or Microsoft Surface Book? They may dispel your complaints. You can even buy the XPS with Ubuntu.

Worthless battery life for such costly machines. I would've bought the XPS 13 with Ubuntu otherwise. Edit: I read reviews like this http://www.iretron.com/blog/posts/dell-xps-13-is-a-major-dis... cannot find the other ones though. It is better than I remember; I thought it was worse. Still; 6 hours is not really usable in my book.

My XPS 13 on Debian lasts around 8 to 10 hours without difficulties for long trips.

Re: We Need a Better PC

#329

Post by RealityVoid » Wed, Feb 17, 2016, 8:45 AM UTC

Ifhax wrote: post #97

You should get a dell latitude--woot periodically has excellent deals on "last-year's models", brand-new with 3 years warranty. They are reliable, modifiable, and get excellent battery life. They come pre-installed with Windows Professional, with minimal bloatware--but forget about it. Scrub off the Windoze crap, install Linux, and you will have an awesome little machine.

Dell Latitude for the win. I have a E6410 and I am very happy with it. Long battery life, rugged, good build. A little heavy, but that never bothered me. And I get all kinds of curious looks since it looks so different. :)

Re: We Need a Better PC

#330

Post by spronkey » Wed, Feb 17, 2016, 8:46 AM UTC

debaserab2 wrote: post #194

hysan wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Decade old heavy Linux user who got his first Macbook a few months ago. I agree that Homebrew is not as good as most package managers. However, it's good enough and doesn't get in the way. It does what it needs to do and because of that, I don't think it's fair to use that as a reason to claim that OS X is worse than Linux for developers.

Oh just wait. It will, I promise. It's nowhere near yum or apt.

Tbh, yum and apt both get in the way for other reasons. Homebrew is nice and straightforward. Very much depends on what development you do though - anything web-related, and you're absolutely fine on a Mac.