These days I would say just buy an rPi 4B+ ... it's tiny, it's light, it doesn't need noisy fans (the first bane of old laptops), it doesn't require ancient non-uniform battery technology (the second bane of old laptops), keyboard and screen can be upgraded when destroyed (the third and fourth banes of old laptops), it's cheap, it's fast enough for nearly anything. Invest some extra in a wireless keyboard and mouse, optionally a portable screen or second hand Android tablet https://passivetech.com/2020/07/30/how-to-use-an-android-tab... for the tiny subset of situations in which you really need to compute and don't have one available at home/office/hotel, and buy a USB battery pack.
How and why I stopped buying new laptops
41–50 of 288 posts
Re: How and why I stopped buying new laptops
#42As someone coming from the other direction of this "hack", I agree with the author's point to match needs to hardware. Since being introduced to Linux in high school in the early 2000s, I have had a penchant for bringing old computers back from the dead. As a result, every laptop I have ever owned has been one that a friend or partner throws away when Windows gets slow. Every 3-5 year old laptop I have found can be b…
Totally applaud the effort of bringing old laptops to life and I would do it too but what am I to so with so many laptops? I do let mine rest in peace if they’re too behind and as a rule I try to not accumulate too much hardware as where i live space is expensive. If i had plenty of space I’d probably build more dedicated machines, perhaps airgapped to avoid distractions.
And then the lockdown happened, my kids are suddenly being home schooled in our tiny London flat. Thankfully my fleet of fun to refurb ancient ThinkPads find their reason for being, getting pressed into heavy everyday use. Overnight I've become a sys admin and in the months since migrated everybody to Arch Linux for ease of maintenance. Pretty happy with the setup. Icing on the cake my 9 year old brags to his friends about his kick ass Linux setup and the advantages of a tiling window manager. For the record the kids are running an X220, a T420 whilst I'm developing on a T440p. But sometimes I borrow one of the kids machines just because the keyboards are sooooo good to type on.
Re: How and why I stopped buying new laptops
#43The 11" Macbook Air solved the laptop form factor. Thin, light, very portable, USB ports on each side , headphone jack and an external monitor port (in this case, thunderbolt). Could there be some refinements to my 2015 MBA ? Certainly - the two type-A USB ports could remain type A but be upgraded to USB3 ... you could add a USB-C port on each side in place of the magsafe and lightning ports and gain the ability to c…
> We need to actually coin a word to describe "company solved their use-case wonderfully and can't resist fiddling around with it for reasons that don't align with their user-base*. Can't help coin a new word, but Ralph Caplan described this phenomenon really well. I'm a (software) designer, and I think about this all the time: > When cuffs disappeared from men’s trousers, fashion designers gave interviews explaining…
Trouser cuffs do have a function. The extra weight helps the cloth drape better.
Re: How and why I stopped buying new laptops
#44> If you do graphical or audiovisual work, it’s more complicated, because in that case, you’re probably an Apple user and unwilling to listen. Well that’s too bad. Sounds like the author just didn’t have the experience or energy to give advice to windows/ Linux users like myself that do audio/ graphical work. I was really interested in seeing what he had to offer. I personally use an NEC Lavie Hybrid Zero to make my…
I only use OSS for my entire workflow. KDENLive is the best video editor imo but OSS video editors are still pretty bad. Shortcut is stable but it's basically iMovie circa 2011. Audacity is great. No qualms there. Krita is the king of photoshop clones. Makes gimp look like garbage.
I struggle with Krita sometimes, but I think that's because I keep trying to use it like a Photoshop clone. Recently I've started treating it like a Painter clone in terms of my usage patterns and mindset when creating/editing things, and that seems to have resolved most of my issues & annoyances. Well, other than still not really having much in the way of a useful Photoshop clone, but I just run it in a VM these days, and that seems to work well enough.
Krita is an incredible piece of software.
Re: How and why I stopped buying new laptops
#45The 11" Macbook Air solved the laptop form factor. Thin, light, very portable, USB ports on each side , headphone jack and an external monitor port (in this case, thunderbolt). Could there be some refinements to my 2015 MBA ? Certainly - the two type-A USB ports could remain type A but be upgraded to USB3 ... you could add a USB-C port on each side in place of the magsafe and lightning ports and gain the ability to c…
> We need to actually coin a word to describe "company solved their use-case wonderfully and can't resist fiddling around with it for reasons that don't align with their user-base*. Can't help coin a new word, but Ralph Caplan described this phenomenon really well. I'm a (software) designer, and I think about this all the time: > When cuffs disappeared from men’s trousers, fashion designers gave interviews explaining…
In fashion, "newness" is a function.
Re: How and why I stopped buying new laptops
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
That word is: lack of market research. I recently finished up shopping for a Windows laptop. It took awhile, as I balanced price with features. You'd be shock how many otherwise decently config'ed offerings lacked a key and basic feature (e.g., backlit KB), or was deficient in some key way (e.g., mid-priced models with only 8 GB RAM soldered, no ability to upgrade). I agree. Some might not need backlit or more than 8…
I'd argue too much, not too little market research is the problem. They just have wrong (ok, misaligned) objectives. Soldered RAM is invisible on the table at Best Buy, but the price savings to the manufacturer are very visible on their balance sheet. In fact, a laptop that becomes useless and you need to upgrade from 8 GB soldered RAM to one with 16 GB soldered RAM after 2 years is more than twice as profitable as o…
Perhaps. But more landfill trash? That sounds like a 20th Century business model.
But to your point, let's take it a step further. Most people aren't going to bother to upgrade their RAM. It's likely they won't even know. Even so after three years they'll want some new feature. But who do you give that to? At least if the RAM could be upgraded, it could have some added use. I'm not so sure that bonus round is being filled with new hardware.
Put another way, a used Brand X is good shape would be a gateway to a new customer and a new purchase next time. Why not lease laptops to the consumer market? Or offer trade-up deals like phones?
There's got to be a way that's better for consumers, the environment, and manufacturers.
Re: How and why I stopped buying new laptops
#47This is a bit over the top. It works for someone whose only computing task is text editing. Working off an SD is painful if you have a non-trivial amount of IO.
Re: How and why I stopped buying new laptops
#48What about desktop computers? They are arguably more long-lasting, adaptable (upgradable), more powerful and cheaper than laptops. But of course, their prinicpal disadvantage is their lack of portability. If portability isn't a consideration, them I still recommend desktops when buying a computer. My home desktop is 8 years old (bought in 2012) and running fine and fast. Of course, it has been upgraded e.g. it has mo…
Aside from portability, power consumption tends to be a drawback with desktop computers. The difference may not be a factor for most people, but it sounds like it would be an factor for the author.
Given the author's mention of the environmental impact of producing computers, it is also worth asking what it amounts to for desktops. While the longevity of the machine will help, the additional materials and replacement components (to achieve that longevity) will have an additional impact. The question is how much, since I doubt that it scales linearly with mass.
Re: How and why I stopped buying new laptops
#49The 11" Macbook Air solved the laptop form factor. Thin, light, very portable, USB ports on each side , headphone jack and an external monitor port (in this case, thunderbolt). Could there be some refinements to my 2015 MBA ? Certainly - the two type-A USB ports could remain type A but be upgraded to USB3 ... you could add a USB-C port on each side in place of the magsafe and lightning ports and gain the ability to c…
My neighbor has used TurboTax for 20 years or so. This year, they came out with an "upgrade" that revamped the user interface. She no longer has any idea how to make it work. She's switching to using a CPA.
Re: How and why I stopped buying new laptops
#50The 11" Macbook Air solved the laptop form factor. Thin, light, very portable, USB ports on each side , headphone jack and an external monitor port (in this case, thunderbolt). Could there be some refinements to my 2015 MBA ? Certainly - the two type-A USB ports could remain type A but be upgraded to USB3 ... you could add a USB-C port on each side in place of the magsafe and lightning ports and gain the ability to c…
That word is: lack of market research. I recently finished up shopping for a Windows laptop. It took awhile, as I balanced price with features. You'd be shock how many otherwise decently config'ed offerings lacked a key and basic feature (e.g., backlit KB), or was deficient in some key way (e.g., mid-priced models with only 8 GB RAM soldered, no ability to upgrade). I agree. Some might not need backlit or more than 8…
You're overthinking it, it's some PM justifying his or her own job in a company flush with so much cash it doesn't know what to do with it.