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The PC is interesting again

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Re: The PC is interesting again

#81

Post by muninn_ »

gkya wrote: post #75
muninn_ wrote: post #5

That Dell has a nice looking screen, but then they go and ruin it with the carbon-fiber-looking body. I'd also have to be able to run some operating system that isn't Windows (I'll never use Windows again) without having to screw around with drivers or other annoying quirks. Until it's beautiful and comes with a non-junky operating system I'm stuck with Mac. With that being said, I'm very glad to see other manufactur…

> I'd also have to be able to run some operating system that isn't Windows (I'll never use Windows again) without having to screw around with drivers or other annoying quirks. Since like ten years the only time I have to mess with drivers is when I install Windows to someones computer (and I used Arch linux for ~3 years and since last May I'm on FreeBSD). You can go for Ubuntu or Elementary OS if you're looking for a…

I do laptop only since I live in a small space, but I appreciate the suggestion.

Re: The PC is interesting again

#82

Post by jay_kyburz »

viet_nguyen wrote: post #70

I've never lived without a laptop since 2002, and this year I'm going to get Razer Blade 14". Laptops are getting desktop like performance with the portability of a small backpack and the weight of under 2kg. Full HD with 14" laptop looks just right. With the human size not changing at all, I see that there's always a need for a PC.

I will be upgrading to this as my main machine as when my current MBP pro dies. It's 4 years old now. I will miss macOS though. I have a Surface Pro 3 and its just horrible to use - both as a tablet and laptop.

edit: A bit more detail: I've done a lot of reseach into gaming laptops in the last month as I'll be starting a job using unity in Feb. The Blade seems to be just a little bit better than ASUS and MSI offerings. I think the Alienware machines just look like cheap junk so didn't really look into them.

They are all priced incredibly closely it really does come down to your preference for style and minor feature variations.

Re: The PC is interesting again

#83

Post by Brakenshire »

bluedino wrote: post #24

Are we in a time machine? Lenovo released the Yoga, the first convertible that you could put in tent mode or tablet mode, and Microsoft released the Surface, back in 2012 . Intel announced the Ultrabook in 2011 . Today you have the same things. They've been revised and improved in the areas of screen, battery life, graphics performance, switching from HDD to SSD, but it's all been incremental. >> 2-IN-1S SUCCEEDED BE…

A lot of the improvements which make 2-in-1's useful rather than mediocre are incremental. Just as both the smartphone and tablet concepts for years before hardware existed which could make it work well. I'd say the two major hardware barriers up to this point have been i) having a fast processor which is also efficient enough to operate within a small thermal envelope, and have a decent battery life, ii) keeping the weight down so that the device is comfortable to read from. We've just got to the point where you can get desktop-class processors that fit within the thermal envelope, in devices which are 700g. Now it's just about software.

Re: The PC is interesting again

#84

Post by gkya »

muninn_ wrote: post #81
gkya wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'd also have to be able to run some operating system that isn't Windows (I'll never use Windows again) without having to screw around with drivers or other annoying quirks. Since like ten years the only time I have to mess with drivers is when I install Windows to someones computer (and I used Arch linux for ~3 years and since last May I'm on FreeBSD). You can go for Ubuntu or Elementary OS if you're looking for a…

I do laptop only since I live in a small space, but I appreciate the suggestion.

I used desktop to mean "desktop environment", not a desktop PC. I, too, use a laptop.

Re: The PC is interesting again

#85

Post by mwfunk »

peterwwillis wrote: post #40

This is effectively a ridiculous lie. I just spent three whole days researching 2-in-1s and tablets and hybrids and laptops, just to understand what the fuck the offerings today actually mean . tl;dr, they suck Start with the premise of Windows 10. It's horrible. Not just the interface, which doesn't give you anything you want or need when you want and need it, forces you to reboot against your will to install update…

Downvoted for complaining about downvoting, as is tradition.

Re: The PC is interesting again

#86

Post by pjmlp »

muninn_ wrote: post #5

That Dell has a nice looking screen, but then they go and ruin it with the carbon-fiber-looking body. I'd also have to be able to run some operating system that isn't Windows (I'll never use Windows again) without having to screw around with drivers or other annoying quirks. Until it's beautiful and comes with a non-junky operating system I'm stuck with Mac. With that being said, I'm very glad to see other manufactur…

> All we need now is for one of them to drop Windows and seriously support a Linux distribution and then we could have a real Apple competitor in 3-5 years.

Only if the community makes their mind what a UNIX desktop, usable by all types of users, is supposed to look like.

Even then, the first comment would be asking how to replace it with distribution X.

Re: The PC is interesting again

#87

Post by muninn_ »

gkya wrote: post #84
muninn_ wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do laptop only since I live in a small space, but I appreciate the suggestion.

I used desktop to mean "desktop environment", not a desktop PC. I, too, use a laptop.

Ah. I'm currently using a MacBook that I love and not looking at the moment, so I'll keep your suggestions in mind in the next few years. We'll see how Apple responds.

Re: The PC is interesting again

#88

Post by Silhouette »

zouhair wrote: post #8

When did they stop being interesting?

Probably somewhere around the late 2000s or early 2010s, I'd say.

By that point, you could already buy a PC with enough power to do almost anything that most people needed. They ran Windows 7, which is arguably still the best version of Windows that Microsoft has produced. Everyone's major important software ran on Windows PCs first and anything else second. Everyone's hardware came with Windows drivers.

There has been some useful progress in hardware since that time, particularly in the areas of storage, networking/communications, graphics/displays and lower energy consumption. However, in terms of the fundamental capabilities and "shape" of a PC, things haven't really changed much since that time.

More importantly, there has been relatively little real innovation in mainstream PC software for years, it's just that often now you only rent it, it keeps changing itself around, and it tries to spy on you all the time. The interesting innovations in software are almost entirely in either the mobile space or online services today.

Re: The PC is interesting again

#89

Post by bane »

Lots of comments here about custom desktop builds being cheap. But what about the portability you've sacrificed? No big deal, the tremendous savings you just made can go into a cheapo use-it-for-travel laptop and you'll still have money left in the bank.

Re: The PC is interesting again

#90

Post by nostrademons »

0x0 wrote: post #13
freehunter wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ridiculous argument. Macs have never been the value proposition, especially when they get fully loaded. Any literally any point in the history of the Mac, you could say "but you can get a comparable PC cheaper!" and it would be true. Macs have always been expensive, everyone has always complained that they're expensive, and they will continue to be expensive. This isn't new.

Nah. In 2013, macs were slightly more expensive than a comparable PC spec-wise, but still a fairly good deal. In 2016, the prices appear to have almost doubled and is totally unreasonable, while the specs are... malnourished. They even took away the escape key and the magsafe port. :(

In 2013, I was in the market for a new computer, and my top choices were a System76 Pangolin for $702, or a 15" Retina MBP for $2399. Their basic stats (CPU, RAM, disk, base screen resolution) were largely identical; I think the Pangolin actually had the advantage in disk & CPU. The MBP had a nicer keyboard, screen, touchpad, weight, and battery life though.

I ended up going back to Macs for my 2015 upgrade, but that was largely because I wanted to do Apple Watch development. You've always paid a "Mac tax" for Apple products, and it's usually been in the 2-3x range.

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