It's a shame that Samsung apparently doesn't consider the laptop market worth their time anymore. Their Ativ Book 9 was a great little laptop.
We Need a Better PC
551–560 of 699 posts
Re: We Need a Better PC
#552Do 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…
Lucky thing he wasn't shopping a couple of years ago when it was near impossible to buy a PC laptop with a screen at any resolution other than 1366x768.
Also, I know they're uncool and all, but the author should really look at the Dell XPS series. They're rather expensive but hit most all of his points.
Here's a review of the XPS 15: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/01/dell-xps-15-review-a-...
Re: We Need a Better PC
#553I went through the same thought process in December, never owned an Apple computer but needed a new laptop. Despite trying to fend off the idea of getting a Macbook (due to some combination of price/not wanting to succumb to herd mentality/proprietary nature of Apple) I caved. It felt silly to spend a lot of time researching and configuring a custom laptop. I've never purchased a pre-built desktop but customizing a l…
So many little things that Apple just do better. I'd add some things to your list as well - the keyboards are nice and snappy, the machines are silent for general tasks, and the fans are generally quiet unless you're going crazy, with no stupid things like electrical noise / coil whine. Even under heavy load you can sit the thing on your legs and it won't burn you. The machines are very sturdy and don't bend, so they…
I would say it depends on what you do. Mac laptops definitely have strong features that their PC cousins don't have, but...
The two Mac laptops I have, they get hot and the fan is noisy, especially my Macbook Pro.
The port selection is nice, but the ports are too close together unless you're using all Apple cables. A chunky USB key or mini-display port cable can block other ports. I had to use a knife and shave off the edges of a mini display port cable I had.
Re: We Need a Better PC
#554Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Not even mentioning Dell tells me this guy misses a few things. I fully expected to see the (2015) XPS 13 mentioned too and perhaps Microsoft's Surface Book (which could be used as a laptop 100% of the time if required). The way he talked about "Microsoft Surface" made it sound like Microsoft only made the Pro model.
I was not even aware of the surface book, and I was recently in the market for a new power user laptop (ended up getting the dell xps 13).
I just got the new skylake XPS 13 and am loving it. Fantastic hardware.
Re: We Need a Better PC
#555This is why I don't buy laptop computers... they are still overpriced toys. I mean, on a theoretical level, the idea of a mobile computer is appealing, but in practice they all suck very badly.
Re: We Need a Better PC
#556Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't remember. I would check power usage with powertop and make sure you've got no 'bad' indicators on the 'Tunables' tab (actually I think I still have one bad). On the 'Device Stats' tab you should be able to get 'system baseline power usage' under 5 watts under light loads. I run mine with display brightness fairly low, 20% or 30%, but it's still has comparable brightness to my other main laptop's (Lenovo x220)…
I actually have a Lenovo x220 as one of my machines, and with 70-80% brightness I get about 4 hours of battery life (wifi included) on a 9 cells battery. Does it sound reasonable or am I not getting what I should?
Sounds about right, I have 6 cell in my x220 (with Win7) and I'd guess its life is around 2.5 hours with those settings. It's short enough that I don't feel comfortable using it on the go, keep x220 at home almost always plugged in to AC. The battery difference between it and the UX305 is huge.
Re: We Need a Better PC
#557Earlier quoted context omitted.
The Macbook isn't very usable in that space though, since they have no first-party docking station support.
I use a MacBook Pro like this every work day. Plugging in four cables (power, 2x DisplayPort, USB) is not really that big of a deal.
But if details matter (they do for a lot of Mac users), nothing beats a drop in dock. There's also no wear to the plugs or ports with a drop-in dock.
When I was a die-hard Mac user, that was perhaps the only thing that I wish Macs had, minus the crashiness that docks caused on Windows.
Re: We Need a Better PC
#558Earlier quoted context omitted.
You can and many people (including myself) have successfully done that already - https://github.com/raphael/linux-samus
I think the question of the parent was if you could install Linux as you can with a normal PC (just by plugging an installation CD or USB drive), and the answer would be: "no you can't, unless you go through some hoops". It's like installing Mac OSX on a PC, or Linux on a Mac: you can, but not easily and not in a way that is supported by the manufacturer. You just have to scroll down in the link to see that there are…
Well, he mentioned developers and I'd like to think for the majority of developers those few extra steps wouldn't present a major challenge. Also the hardware is 100% supported when using a linux kernel optimized for pixel - https://github.com/raphael/linux-samus.
Re: We Need a Better PC
#559Earlier quoted context omitted.
I was so very tempted by this laptop but there's one requirement I will never forego -- the backlit keyboard. If they make a second iteration of that model with a backlit keyboard I'll run to the nearest store and I WILL JUST BUY IT right there and then.
Serious question - can someone explain the appeal of the backlit keyboards? I notice it's a big deal whether you're a Mac or PC fan, but I generally don't understand it. Is it for people who can't touch type without looking at the keyboard? Admittedly, my desktop keyboard is backlit (I had to buy a gaming keyboard to get the macro keys I wanted), but the only purpose of the backlight for me is to know which of the fo…
For me I would say its about simply initial orientation of setting my hands down. Its hard to articulate but like the OP I will never buy one without it again - its just a nice feature that I have decided is essential.
Re: We Need a Better PC
#560What do you think of the Novena? https://www.crowdsupply.com/sutajio-kosagi/novena If you want to make a good laptop, there are people doing that, in an open hardware and open source way.
It's not really a laptop, really a portable all-in-one desktop with a battery, unless you're talking about that very expensive wood & cork thing. Nice that it's not Intel but you will take a speed hit for that.