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We Need a Better PC

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Re: We Need a Better PC

#53
OP doesn't mention Dell Precision line?

Recently released 5510[1] is looking absolutely awesome, will be picking one up when return to States in April to replace current Precision M4700.

2 X SSD + 32GB memory, high end CPU, decent GPU with 3840 X 2160 screen...will be sorted for next few years. If you NewEgg a couple of 480GB SSDs you're around $2,500 for a beastly machine that weighs under 4 lbs (M4700 is nice but hefty, nearly 7 lbs).

[1] http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=0...

Re: We Need a Better PC

#54
post #6

Did you look at Dell's line of XPS ultrabooks? I don't own one myself, but the ultra narrow bezels and industrial design look quite nice.

I looked at the 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, Skylake variant of the XPS 13. Amazing looking machine, fits my filter criteria of "has service manual available to mortals" except for one problem - Dell won't sell me one, and neither will Microsoft (Signature Edition). They only seem to be available in the US and even if I was willing to spend the nearly $4000AUD to import one they won't ship to a non-US address.

Amazon has global shipping that might deliver from US to your door. Not all products on their site are included.

http://www.amazon.com/International-Shipping-Direct/b?node=2...

Re: We Need a Better PC

#55
post #45

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

Can I bring my desktop on a plane? To meetings at my client's offices? No? Isn't that an interesting bit of nuance that you so blithely elide.

If you have $1000's to spend on airfare you can afford to have a good desktop machine and a good laptop.

Re: We Need a Better PC

#56
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…

> Rage score 9/10.

LOL. Yes, that's fair. I was frustrated with Lenovo's website for all the reasons I described.

> Bonus points for calling apple website an icon of web design when it weights almost 100mb.

Apple's website is an icon of web design. It's 100MB not because of needless JS & ad tracker bloat, but because of high res images.

Just look at it. It's gorgeous: http://www.apple.com/macbook/

Re: We Need a Better PC

#57
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.

> 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.

Re: We Need a Better PC

#59
post #30

That was a pretty quick dismissal of Lenovo, and a warped portrayal at that. As far as we can tell, Superfish was not intentionally installed by Lenovo, and any money it made didn’t go to them since it wasn’t their software. There’s nothing here to suggest that this is a sign of anything untrustworthy happening at Lenovo, any more than there is at any other major laptop seller. It seems like this was just a case of t…

If Lenovo has unintentional binaries slipping in the production image, the problems are way more serious than sloppy QA.

How can I trust their peripheral chips and firmware? Or BIOS and SMM for that matter?

Maybe some nasty things unintentionally slipped in their SMM code as well?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_Management_Mode

There's no way I could verify all the firmware code contained in the laptop. Heck, not even one chip.

Lenovo has had things not intended happening with their BIOS [1] as well. It's fixed now, but what else there might be lurking under covers?

[1]: http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/08/lenovo...

Re: We Need a Better PC

#60

I've always found ASUS laptops well built, great screens and very reliable. Their Zen books are nice.

I had to scroll all the way to the bottom to find you.

I have always heard good things about the ASUS ZenBooks.

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