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The Best Size of a Laptop

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Re: The Best Size of a Laptop

#51

Post by hug »

replete wrote: post #14

The MacBook air 11" in 2012 was my favorite laptop by far. Maxed out with an i7 and 8GB RAM it handled everything I needed to including multiple InteliJ projects. The resolution today seems obscenely low, but it was completely usable and the compactness was of great utility, practical for use while traveling. I've bought tablets multiple times thinking it could replace it, it just isn't the same. It's a real shame th…

The 12" MacBook (not air, not pro) from 2017 was my dream machine... Except for the thermals limiting the performance. That issue could easily be solved with an M-series machine in a similar chassis, but alas.

The current 13" M-series Airs seem a little confusing to me -- the two largest dimensions are practically the same as the current MBP, so for my use-case (i.e.: not carrying a backpack) I basically have to carry a bag the exact same size as if I were going to carry the MBP, and the extra 300g (or 0.7 lb) is meaningless in terms of portability.

It feels like the Air is no longer really so Air-y, which is a shame.

Re: The Best Size of a Laptop

#52

Post by sgarland »

EarthMephit wrote: post #32
sgarland wrote: post #3

…is 14”. It is the perfect balance between portability, weight, and screen real estate. I’ve tried 13”, 14”, 15”, and 16”. 14” is where it’s at.

I've got an LG Gram 17-inch laptop that weighs about the same as a 13-inch macbook air. Having a huge screen on a super-light, super skinny laptop is so handy for portability and all the extra screen real-estate is great for a developer. Its difficult to go back to a 14-inch. I wish more laptop manufacturers would make ultra-lights with large screens.

That is impressive, but I’m also extremely sold on ARM viz. Apple Silicon. I haven’t touched a Windows laptop in years. The only thing that feels as snappy is my gaming desktop, and I would wager that my M4 Pro could probably beat it in pure computational power.

Re: The Best Size of a Laptop

#53

Post by sgarland »

swyx wrote: post #13
sgarland wrote: post #3

…is 14”. It is the perfect balance between portability, weight, and screen real estate. I’ve tried 13”, 14”, 15”, and 16”. 14” is where it’s at.

agree, 14' MBP is the best - has the most ports, and better memory than MBA, but without the bulk of the 16' MBP

I made the mistake at a job once of getting a 16”. They offered both, and I figured why not go big? Except most of the time, it’s docked, so not like I need the screen, and when I have to travel, it’s difficult.

Learned my lesson; never again.

Re: The Best Size of a Laptop

#54

Post by jmclnx »

sgarland wrote: post #3

…is 14”. It is the perfect balance between portability, weight, and screen real estate. I’ve tried 13”, 14”, 15”, and 16”. 14” is where it’s at.

Having used a few different sizes, I agree, for portability 14" is perfect, but I would add 1 thing. The screen should be 16:10, not 16:9.

I have a Thinkpad T61 and its screen size is 16x10, to me that is the perfect Laptop.

One more thing, no number pad. It should have a keybord like the old thinkpads.

Re: The Best Size of a Laptop

#56

Post by lantry »

Joeboy wrote: post #37
3np wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You mean like the Framework laptop modules?

I don't know, maybe! I just did a half-arsed google and got an M.2 adaptor that doesn't look like it's designed for daily swappage? But maybe you're talking about something else.

They have "expansion cards" which fit flush in the body of the laptop. One of the available expansion cards is an SSD (comes in various sizes)

https://frame.work/products/storage-expansion-card-2nd-gen?v...

Re: The Best Size of a Laptop

#58

Post by WorldPeas »

notatoad wrote: post #34
Casteil wrote: post #15

I had a Lenovo S10 netbook too back in the day. I have fond memories of it, but I definitely don't 'miss that tiny size'. It was so tiny that they had to shrink the key size on the keyboard to make it fit, and the trackpad was also so tiny as to be barely usable. Nowadays, I'd say 14" is the sweet spot. Compact enough to easily fit in a bag and be taken basically anywhere, without having to sacrifice much if anything…

i really think iPad nailed the perfect combination of screen size and aspect ratio. i just wish they'd still make it in a proper laptop version, i don't want iPad OS. i had a netbook back in the day, and it was okay but the 16:9 aspect ratio really let it down. on a screen that small, 4:3 makes a big difference.

that and the sim slot. I've always wondered why they can't bodge one into the sd slot in software, as from what I remember the interconnects are similar (?). Or maybe they could just make personal hotspot more reliable

Re: The Best Size of a Laptop

#59

Post by WorldPeas »

Joeboy wrote: post #11

Tengentially: Since a lot of us are hybrid workers now, can't we have a better solution than having to constantly schlep our laptops to work and back? I want an easily pluggable SSD that doesn't dangle precariously out of the side of my laptop. Something like the old PCMCIA form factor. Then I could have a work laptop and a home laptop.

maybe consider a uhs-ii or uhs-iii sd card? they're very fast and will work on any modern macbook

Re: The Best Size of a Laptop

#60

Post by WorldPeas »

perilunar wrote: post #49
Joeboy wrote: post #11

Tengentially: Since a lot of us are hybrid workers now, can't we have a better solution than having to constantly schlep our laptops to work and back? I want an easily pluggable SSD that doesn't dangle precariously out of the side of my laptop. Something like the old PCMCIA form factor. Then I could have a work laptop and a home laptop.

Given how powerful phones are nowadays it's a shame that we can't just dock our phones into a keyboard & monitor and run a full desktop OS on them.

or have a keyboard case for them like with the pinephone. Bonus points for enumerating usb-2/usb-4 and a headphone jack
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