The Perfect Laptop
blog.brossia.com
blog.brossia.com
I can’t help wonder if the m2 air 15” is the best on the market currently.
I'm so surprised more people don't want brighter screens.
At night my screen looks gorgeous, though I could even go a touch brighter when doing detailed design stuff.
Daytime? I'd go for literally 2-3x brighter if I could. Let alone working outside! Screen brightness is the biggest QoL improvement I'd get vs any other spec bump.
The only things it doesn’t check off is the HDMI out and other ports issues IMO.
I work with my laptop only. No peripherals and I move around a lot. Makes it easier for me to work this way.
What I really want from Apple at this point is better UX on MacOS. Stage Manager is an interesting idea but, to me, it's not really a fix for any of my problems so I've just disabled it. I've used two 4k external monitors for years on MacOS and the same little annoying bugs plague me. Specifically, I think how MacOS handles full-screen apps is just not quite right. I don't understand why things feel clunky in just this area of the experience. We need what happened in iOS a few years ago when they got rid of the home button and were forced to make opening/closing/switching between apps much more fluid. I need MacOS to feel fluid like that. Then, it'd really be "perfect" for me.
I have baked into my muscle memory the expectation that when I hit the keyboard shortcut to summon virtual desktop number 5, that desktop will show up on the monitor that currently has focus, no matter which monitor(s) it may have appeared on before. This setup is impossible in Mission Control or whatever the multiple-desktop thing MacOS is called. I can choose between:
"Displays have separate spaces" checked: left monitor has desktops 1,2,3, right monitor has desktop 4,5,6, and if I add a new one to left its number is 7. Want to put desktop #4 on the left? You can't except by dragging all the windows one by one, like a cave-man. What happens to the numbering when you add or remove another monitor? It's weird.
"Displays have separate spaces" unchecked: now I have numbered Left+RightMonitorMonstrosity desktops, but if I want to switch the left monitor between "documentation" and "email", while leaving the right monitor on code, I'm out of luck. This setup behaves a bit better about adding and removing monitors, I will admit.
My old Xmonad setup with numbered desktops (which I cloned from my ion3 setup) behaved beautifully when adding and removing monitors. This is to say nothing of having had a Mod4 key solely for my own use, which I ended up using almost exclusively to interact with the window manager.
I can't wrap my head around a film strip of horizontally situated desktops that I swipe through or page through. I can't fathom the idea of making "full screen" change an app from looking like a window to looking like a desktop, and whats more appending the new desktop to the end of the list. I know that MacOS already knows what the windows on that other desktop are going to look like before I switch, so why does it insist on showing some kind of animation when switching (even "reduce motion" changes it from a wipe motion to a useless fade), like iOS does to hide load time? I know about amethyst and rectangle and setting up a "hyper" key with karabiner-elements or qmk or whatever. No amount of it adds up to the same experience that I had with ion3 back in 2006 and I get worked up that I paid into the ecosystem and bought this otherwise-great laptop and I can't make it work the way I want it.
The limitation, which you might be bumping into, is you can't drag the current desktop that's visible on a display, which is sometimes annoying but makes sense. Switch to a different desktop first.
I agree with you about the confusing ever-changing number labels on the desktops. I would really like to assign names to desktops, like "Work" and "Project 1". The GUI has room for it, as the full-screen app desktops already have names.
Or do 8 parallel runs of transforming and merging a massive amount of jpgs into less massive pile of pdfs. Just about fully pegged all of the cores for hours.
What surprised me was how fast everything still was. Without the fan, I wouldn't have known the load the system was under.
I don't know what imagemagick does when you ask it to merge jpgs into a pdf. :)
14 inch M2 Macbook Pro.
Combine it with the Anker 737 Power Bank, and it's a match made in heaven.
Never heard the fan. Stays cool to the touch, which is quite unexpected and pleasant.
I’m even kinda happy about the notch, because it prompted Apple to add a strip of extra pixels for the menubar to live in, leaving the remaining 16:10 area fully open for use by apps.
The only downside is its weight, but given all of its other upsides I can live with that.
Essentially, the RAM is so close to the CPU and GPU that it can effectively be used as VRAM, at least for the M1 and up chipsets as far as I'm aware. That means a 32GB RAM MacBook would be able to run incredibly large (e.g. LLM) networks on-device. Nvidia GPUs with that much VRAM (although they are clearly better at GPU tasks) can cost as much as an expensive MacBook already.
[1] In addition to the non-MBP hardware being clunky, your choice of OS is cutting your steak with a spoon (Windows), or a huge drawer full of tangs, handles, prongs, and spoon-bowl and you spend your time digging around to assemble a knife, fork, and spoon that are the same style and finally give up and settle for "well, it matches if you squint" (Linux). I love the idea of Linux, but I've never actually gotten my system to where I like it, just to where I can tolerate it.
When I looked at adding my ideal RAM and storage onto the base MBP M2 Pro model, the RAM upgrade came to $1634.56 (£1250), and the storage upgrade came to $2876.83 (£2200).
That's enough to be a long term purchase, so I decided to wait for the M3 and see if 3nm makes a big difference.
That's not a very good comparison. Glasses are important for helping the visually impaired, while Apple memory is just an add-on for a luxury computer.
>But as long as you can afford it, a few hundred dollars isn't that much spread over a few years.
It is that few hundred dollars is a 10x markup over market rate (I've checked, and Apple's markups are actually that bad).
>You can get a not-MBP and have a clunky experience [1] but save some money, or spend a the extra few hundred for a MBP with enough memory to be a great experience.
I don't think my experience with my current PC is clunky, and if I get an M1 macbook, I'll be using Asahi Linux instead of MacOS.
I suspect the fan doesn't turn on because it is heavily throttled.
Another factor: I live in the UK, where they have a particularly crackpot derivative of the ISO QWERTY layout that well nigh unusable for a programmer. Apple is the only laptop vendor that will allow you to choose your keyboard layout, so when I buy anything else, I order from the US, with all the customs hassles that implies.
I have a desktop with a few gpus in it for “fun”, so a laptop for me often is a client to access more power if needed. I run Sunshine and get 4k60 streaming for desktop, 3d modeling, video editing, and even gaming on occasion. Now with a MacBook instead of a thermally constrained thinkpud I can even do that stuff on the m1 locally do a degree.
What I have had happen is my work Dell machine (Windows) shutting off if it overheats. I have to make sure it's on a surface that does not heat up and lets air flow freely. Resting it on the couch will kill it within 10-20 minutes.
I use the Nano from the couch/bed for hours with no issues.
On the other hand, I cannot stand my work M1 MacBook Pro, but that’s primarily because it weighs so much and the keyboard is pretty mediocre, so it’s not fun to travel with. It’s more of a docking laptop, which defeats the purpose of a portable machine for me.
I used to see a fair number of 11" MBP Airs at conferences when they were a thing; relatively low burden mac-based computing device. I'm sure if there was an M series version it would acquire a following among those who are more likely traveling than in a position to require the largest thermal envelope.
I did briefly have a 2020 M1 Air for 2 years. It was fine for carrying around. It failed for portability primarily in its inability to dock to a 2 monitor workstation. I still vastly prefer my Nano as a portable laptop to travel with (e.g. plane or bus travel outside of my city). The Air indeed weighs very little, but it still weighs 40% more than a Nano! I usually travel with a portable screen that weighs half a pound, so my combo still weighs less than just an Air.
It’s hard to describe the experience with an Air, since weight is about physical feel, but that weight saving does make a difference. The Nano is so lightweight that I can quickly pick it up and use it on the sofa as comfortably as an iPad. My Nano even has a 5G SIM card slot that I can pop my cellphone SIM into. However, that only works on the Windows side for now. Finally, the keyboard is much more pleasant to type on with the Nano. It really is a great travel laptop. Add in the ability to natively run Arch Linux, and I’m happier than ever with it.
There are two areas that seem like such a miss to me on current macs, one of which you mentioned; cellular connectivity. I don't know if a physical SIM slot would be necessary, but it's just ridiculous that I still need to tether. That and a lack of any other appearance than grey or silver. Let me get a damn red, forest green, or lavender Macbook Pro!
I don't particularly care for the keyboard on the laptop, but my opinion more broadly, hence the Sculpt keyboard, is that any situation where my arms come in from an angle and I have to strain my wrists toward a rectangle of keys isn't really ideal. Went through a series of other external keyboards, apple keyboards, and what tends to be my preference is the key-depth of probably your Lenovo, a manta-ray like shape, wireless, and 10-keyless size; I'd really like backlit keys and a non-proprietary dongle or better wireless and internal battery that charges over usb-c.
I've always owned 15" laptops, and i've never had any trouble fitting them in bags, even in a sleeve. I understand why people might want 7" or 10" netbooks, but a 12" machine just seems like a waste of space to me. I understand that most people feel very differently, though!
> webcam that doesn’t make it look like your laptop (or you) are a potato during a videoconference
And also doesn't look up your nose - my XPS 15 has the camera underneath the monitor, and it's terrible.
> a great keyboard, look to the 2008-11 era ThinkPads for inspiration
Keyboards are one of those things where tastes vary so much. I dislike every ThinkPad keyboard i've tried. Maybe we need interchangeable keyboards, with various styles available?
> a useful number of ports
Interested to see that ethernet doesn't make the cut. I definitely appreciate having that without having to bedongle the machine.
How about adding:
- Ability to charge from USB-PD
Or is that a given these days?
As someone who travels frequently, the M1 Air has been simply amazing. It's so small and sturdy, and fairly light compared to the bigger/bulkier/heavier 15 I had before... and I'm at far less risk of breaking the screen while it's in my bag.
The bigger machines have a much greater surface area which the contents of the backpack can put pressure against. So the larger screen laptops are more susceptible to being pressed too hard near the middle of their screens and breaking.
I wish there were some ultra-rigid screen backs which would eliminate that concern. I don't need something as serious as a Panasonic Toughbook, but something with some arched curved ridges to add strength would be nice.
Then I got a Surface Pro 3. It was FAR more portable, enough to make me realize just how much less portable my MBP was. I couldn't bear to bring the 15" back out. However, the SP3 was definitely too small of a screen for dedicated work. Great for college & notetaking, but reliant on external displays.
Now I've been using a 13" surface laptop for a few years and that's really struck me as the right portability vs productivity balance. 13 inches is big enough for two columns of code, and fits in basically any backpack pouch easy. I probably won't be going back to 15" when this dies.
I bought and old one second hand a few years ago and it is actually nice; bulky but light enough and really unbreakable. So when backpacking it is a good companion that can be used as a little flat table, can be used in the heat, cold and in the rain, you can drop drinks on it, drop it and beat someone’s head it before getting to work. The only real disadvantage is the battery life, so I carry a spare which works for me when on trips.
The main thing I miss is the expansive keyboards on the bigger machines. The 17” ones even had a number pad, and some my 15” ones did too.
My current work laptop is a 15” Thinkpad P15 Gen2 with an i9-11950H, 64gb of ram, and an rtx 3080 mobile. It’s a beast but very reasonably sized for its specs. It’s a little bit chunky but I wouldn’t expect anything less with a high performance cpu and gpa. Lots of ports, 15” OLED display. I love it, even if the battery life is abysmal. It’s a workstation.
But my personal machine needs to be small enough to throw in a bag and not think about, so its a Ryzen powered thinkpad X13. The screen is a little dim and the battery life is way worse than a comparable dell XPS 13, but it was inexpensive and does everything I need. The major downside to the size is the keyboard is also shrunk, so lots of typing sucks.
The biggest problem with both machines, and its true of all thinkpads, is that Lenovo put the function button on the leftmost of the lowest row instead of ctrl button and I often try to copy paste and accidentally hit the function key instead of control. I ended up getting a mouse with some extra buttons and I’ve assigned one of them as ctrl instead, but it would be better if the ctrl button would just be where it was supposed to be.
In my freshman year of college, I still hadn't gotten a smartphone yet due to being on my parents' phone plan still, but since there was wifi everywhere on campus, I used to carry around a Nexus 7 tablet everywhere. I could literally fit the 7" tablet in my pocket, which always seemed to take people by surprise. I think 7" is a lot smaller than some people realize; I don't think I could even type comfortably with both hands on a netbook that small!
Not a given on the Thinkpads the author mentions as being near-perfect, which are known to get perma-bricked using PD from a charger while plugged into a monitor also providing PD: https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkPad-X-Series-Laptops/X1-Ca...
2016-2019 MBPs also had an issue with PD on the left side causing thermal throttling.
I bought a used Thinkpad 220 and it's a cool little swiss army type of device. The keyboard is VERY different from modern thinkpads. More tactile and a lot of cool features. Would be interesting with a technical update. I think the Japanese Panasonic Let's Note may be the closest modern equivalent.
Their later designs have crammed it in at top-center as is more typical.
I've settled on the 12" size, mostly because it's the smallest viable laptop that you can still type on. If you look at the ThinkPad X201 [1] as an example from the post, the device is the exact width of the keyboard with no bezel. So, you could have an 11" or smaller device, but it would mean sacrificing a lifetime of typing muscle memory to do so.
I remember loving my ~8 inch netbook during university. With virtual desktops it was more than adequate for coding projects even if the best seat I could find was on the floor against a wall.
The added rigidity feels good too, even something really cheaply built out of plastic will have little to no flex, and probably survive being dropped at that size.
This is part of why the 12” MacBook and its spiritual ancestor, the 12” PowerBook G4 were popular.
I also carry around a smaller messenger bag which 12" laptops just about fit in. I tried to pull off a 17" Dell mobile workstation, but got very tired of lugging around a backpack and having no battery life.
Once you’ve used a Mac touchpad, it’s impossible to go back to a Windows/Linux laptop. I’ve tried…
Because it doesn't move. When you press down on an Apple touchpad, it doesn't displace at all, it vibrates. This gives you an identical touch response across the entire trackpad, plus nifty things like Force Touch and customizable response intensity.
Nobody else has done it, and it makes every other touchpad feel awful.
Apple can have the best one, sure, I believe it. But they still are bad pointing devices as a type of pointing device. People have gotten used to them, because what else can you really fit into a laptop?
I never found a non-Mac with a trackpad I could use _at all_. I always need a mouse to use my windows laptop...
According to John Romero, keyboard + mouse was intended:
Trackpads are better than touchscreen interfaces though.
I didn't use a mouse since at least 2006. Before that I was mandated to use one by the company I was working for but I probably didn't. Why should I lose time to move my hand to grab the mouse when it's already close to the touchpad?
I connected a mouse a few times to play some casual game but I'm not playing games anymore on my laptop.
There's actually a few benefits, like touchpad gestures for app and workspace switching being much faster than the equivalent keyboard shortcuts.
Apple trackpads are a mouse replacement. There are literally people who have a Magic Trackpad instead of a mouse for desktop use.
That's how good the Apple stuff is.
The Apple one is so good though, it convinced me to buy their dedicated desktop trackpad for when my laptop is docked and I work on my large monitor at the desk. It got to the point where I prefer their trackpad for literally everything I do on my desktop, with games being the only exception. Though I am still fine and good with using a mouse. Trackpads on windows laptops though, it feels insufferable in comparison.
The nipple! I have no idea what IBM actually called it, but that's what it was. I would take it 10 times out of 10 over a touchpad (which I appreciate but cannot use properly)
I have a very nice Logitech mouse and keyboard setup, but still prefer to use the Macbook touchpad while connected to an external display. They're just perfect in every sense.
Is it just the drivers?
So, as usual, it’s not just that Apple makes better hardware. They do — their trackpads have always been more precise. But the software interpreting signals from that hardware is much better as well.
In Windows I get more accidental touches turned to clicks; pinch-to-zoom is less reliable; taps are often misinterpreted or missed.
It's what allows them to make the touchpad so big, while still making the keyboard easily accessible.
I understand that everyone's experience can be different. But wow I just noticed that my palms are so often on the touchpad while I'm typing and I have never ever had any problem with that.
Also I usually use my thumb to move cursor and click while other fingers stay on the keys and I cannot remember when it didn't behave according to my intentions. Especially considering the bigger contact area between a thumb and touchpad compared to other fingers.
I just checked edge cases and it works very reliably. Cursor doesn't move if I use my palm. It does move if palm is on the touchpad and I use my thumb. It does move as expected if I move both thumb and palm over touchpad synchronously. It follows the thumb as expected if I move both my thumb and palm in different directions.
I remember my first touchpad on macbook air 13 from 2011. It felt so much better than anything I tried before. But at that time it was physical and it had dead zone at the top of the touchpad. And it was smaller. Today's touchpad macbook pro touchpad is an engineering marvel.
I have the same problem, but with TrackPoints. It's impossible for me to use any trackpad after trying that, and that has had me tied to ThinkPads for the last 18 years.
It is jarring to move between keyboards and have to completely recalibrate my hands to the different behavior. Try as I might, I can't seem to make them converge with the mouse/trackpoint settings controls in the GUI.
The input method also does not seem to "scale" well with large or high-dpi screens, so even just changing resolutions for a work session can also disrupt the behavior on one single device.
The click feedback is too weak, and the stepless acceleration is not what my brain expects, so I found it frustrating.
Mouse acceleration intensity and curve are editable as well.
Perfectly fine for it to not be your cup of tea, but there is some customizability.
He took a cab from the hotel to a Best Buy to buy a mouse, and I teased him about it. Like, are you such a hothouse flower you can't work for 4 days with the touchpad?
He said something to the effect of "oh, like you wouldn't do the same thing if you left YOUR mouse at home," which was when I realized he hadn't ever noticed that I don't travel with a mouse.
"But how do you put up with it? It's SO BAD!"
"It really isn't; I never think about it!"
And we were baffled by each other for a few minutes, and only when we swapped laptops did either of us realize the HUGE gap.
I had no idea Wintel touchpads were so awful in that era (and horribly horribly small), and he had no idea that a touchpad could actually be good.
It was a weird moment.
(It took a while, but Dell at least caught up. The pad on my XPS15 is, while not Mac-level, absolutely usable. I have no experience with other Wintel makes in the last 5 or 10 years, but I assume the same is true of HP and Lenovo.)
With that in mind, in terms of pure form factor, the Asus Flip Chromebook (2015) was about as close to perfect as possible. Sure, its processor was anemic even at release. I'd want a higher quality screen. But the keyboard was very good by my standards. The 10 inch screen was the perfect size and was 16:10. Weighed around 1.8 pounds (0.82 kg). If I could have that form factor with modern tech, I'd be in heaven.
Second favorite is the current iteration of the iPad Mini. If I could get that with an M1 or M2, full MacOS, then I'd be happier than (insert metaphor here).
Third favorite was the 2015 Macbook. I'd wish for a better keyboard and more ports, but overall the form factor & weight was extremely good. Would be stellar with a modern Mac kb and Apple Silicon.
Fourth fave was a tiny Sony Vaio from 2000. Forget the model name / number. Also under 2 pounds with a 10 inch screen. Honorable mention to the Asus Eee of 2008. Screen was too small but otherwise it was a perfect size & weight.
I guess I'll have to try a GPD laptop one of these days. They seem to be among the only ones providing tiny & small laptops.
I like rugged, beefy laptops with fast screens and discrete graphics. There are downsides, for instance, no linux system I've found yet seem to be able to replicate the battery life optimizations that come by default with Windows, Fedora had issues properly responding to the trackpad, pop OS seems to have stuttering issues playing back youtube videos on Firefox, annoying things like that, but I like having the raw power needed to do things like running stable diffusion or koboldAI or whatever LLM client I want or play some video games or editing images and videos, doing light programming tasks, and just being an all-around do-what-you-want platform that doesn't try to opinionate me out of an option I might want to try.
I will probably give Debian 12 or SUSE a try on the next go round unless I find something better.
[0]: https://community.frame.work/t/thinkpad-701c-with-a-framewor...
I keep hearing this, also for phones, and people usually associate it with certain materials.
Why? I'd rather have a light plastic laptop/phone that works well, is light, and survives a few hits than an overpriced piece of fashion. Bonus points for phones with cracked backs because glass "feels more valuable".
Of course I understand the value of e.g. good hinges, keyboards etc., but pretty sure that's not what people are generally referring to.
What makes you think that? That's what I (and I assume others) are referring to. I.E. actual practical quality of the build.
I drove it 54,000 miles around Africa on the worst roads in the world, using it every day in the heat, humidity, dust and sun. I drove it 30,000+ miles around North America using it heavily. I drove it 36,000 miles around Australia, using it at least 30 hours a week in the dust, heat, sun, etc.
It's had many dings and bashes and a few drops.
It still works great, and I've never repaired a thing on it. The charger has duct tape on the worn cables, and battery life is down to about 3 hours with light use and less than an hour editing HD video.
That's what I'm looking for.
My job many years ago provided me a Lenovo x220. I used to haul that thing from NJ to Arkansas with me twice a year and all over. It was not pretty but it literally took anything I could give it.
My current M1 MacBook Air goes with me on my bicycle daily, goes camping and goes everywhere with no issues.
My Starlabs linux "star lite" laptop had screws back out of it the first time I took it on my bicycle. After replacing screws over and over and eventually taping them in place to avoid the hassle the display stopped working. After fixing the cable for this eventually my keyboard began acting up and now the machine is just a desktop. Mind you this was in about 1.5 years.
The x230 onward is also extremely good.
The trick for me is key travel. I bought a new Thinkpad that had 1.3mm of travel and instantly hated it. 1.5mm feels so so much better (not to mention 1.8mm). No new thinkpads have above 1.3mm I believe (in the pursuit of thinness).
I think it's safe to say a laptop has to be pretty tough to handle what mine has been through, compared to one that sits on a desk, or commutes to/from work in a backpack.
I'd suspect it is related to the thinness push. I share with the author a lack of need for my laptop to shave every last millimeter off, and I've had sturdy plastic laptops in the past... but those laptops are from many years ago now. Shaving every millimeter and still feeling solid requires non-plastic.
chazeon observes the Steam Deck feels quite solid, and I'd agree, but it is also definitely a device that isn't shaving millimeters. Compared to the Switch it is quite the chonk. But it also feels solid. So does the Switch, but the Switch does it with metal.
When people say good build quality what else do you think they are referring to?
There are exceptions like the older ThinkPads which had robust frames under their plastic, but this is not typical.
> 12” body … to fit the 13" to 14" screen it would have very small bezels, this is a great size for fitting in bags and sitting on small tables
Remove one and it makes the perfect laptop much more attainable. It’s near impossible to fit removable hardware and many ports in a small body. Thinkpads are pretty close, but even some of those have to have a flip open expanding port for Ethernet. An hdmi port is taller than many laptops. The small body really is a huge plus for mobility and comfort, but you can’t have ports/etc with that.
Oddly enough my perfect laptop is still the google pixelbook. Enough power for what I need, flawless construction, incredible trackpad and keyboard, runs Linux and chromeos/android apps, is absolutely gorgeous, and super portable.
Downside is there are like no ports so you need a usb hub, the bezel is huge, and … it hasn’t been improved in like half a decade.
There is a very good reason called "profit margin"...
Good luck charging $500 for an extra 768 GB of storage if there is an m2 slot.
And wouldn't most people order online nowadays?
(No first-hand experience with any of those.)
(Updated: to add more models.)
I can't ever imagine using another trackpad with physical buttons though. Just extend the trackpad over the space that the button would have taken up. I should be able to left/middle/right click anywhere on the trackpad, not move my hand back to the button to click.
1) no fans whatsoever
2) no coil whine when I plug my headphones in and stress the CPU
The keyboard is exactly the right size and the right font for me, but I'll concede that muscle memory is an individual thing. I've owned Apple's laptops and keyboards made in 2005, 2007, 2010, 2015, 2019, and 2022, and they are very hell-bent on being consistent about key size and placement, I should give it to them.
I'd like a Linux laptop that would beat this.
XPS13 is a close contender because that 3840x2400 screen is the right kind of ratio and super crisp, but man, that fan noise and the coil whine are just killing the mood. Maybe Thinkpad X13s, but Linux support and its screen are both very meh at this point.
Por que no los dos?
Asahi is running on M2 now: https://asahilinux.org/2022/07/july-2022-release/
Sorry, I’m not paying mad bucks for something that’s “yes, but”.
Unfortunately it's too slow to play YouTube Music in the background, especially if Docker is also running.
I would buy an M2 version in a heartbeat if Apple made them. I recently bit the bullet and got an M2 Air. It's a lovely machine that's better in every respect, but it's 30% heavier, and I can feel that every time I take it with me.
A 900 gram laptop that charges with a phone charger is just incredible to have.
Not just laptops, but monitors in general should be 16:10 or taller. 16:9 only became popular thanks to the computer display industry naively adopting the aspect ratio of televisions. But 16:9 comes from the film industry and has nothing to do with computer productivity. It's a shame that so many monitor manufacturers still focus almost exclusively on 16:9 (or even wider, when width is easily achieved by multiple monitors, side-by-side). I'm fine with the wide options existing, but give me some taller options, too, please.
Why would I want that considering I can get a 21:9 or so display which is also sufficiently tall?
I definitely agree on laptops and small display though.
What's appropriate for the user has a lot to do with the size of their hands, and I think this gets overlooked by many who are instead thinking about display size.
As a person with smallish hands who programs (types a lot), anything larger than an X40/X60 ThinkPad form factor has been very annoying to use.
The move to widescreen aspect ratio displays has completely wrecked laptop typing efficiency in my world, since it tended to stretch out the keyboards beyond what my fingers can reach without lifting a palm.
I wish laptop keyboards were treated more like specialized instruments fitted to buyers hands, like shoe sizes. If you consider how much $$ is paid to people that type all day, it's asinine that the laptop industry hasn't matured into optimizing that interface for individuals. Can't I at least get two hand size variants in the average laptop ordering page? Instead it feels like things have only regressed in this department since the classic ThinkPad days.
1. Make it 16:10. There is plenty of bezel for that. 1900x1200 or something like that. 1200p was pretty common on good CRT monitors in the 90s.
2. Make the number pad optional. Framework is doing that with their 16" model. I'll bury my number pad and give a party.
3. Keep the three physical buttons on the touchpad. By the way, it can probably do gestures and it definitely register clicks but I use it only to move the pointer and scroll with two fingers. I bought the physical buttons because I want to click with them. The middle one pastes the text selected with the left one (Linux.)
4. Keep it user serviceable. I replaced RAM, disks, keyboards, battery a few months ago, it aged well.
5. Maybe make it 2 kg.
6. Maybe trim some bezel on the sides and make it less wide.
7. Definitely make it work with a much slimmer power unit.
8. It's got USB 3 and 2 ports, DisplayPort, VGA, SD card. Probably add an USB C but I don't know. HDMI? I've got a converter for that.
9. Current year CPU and RAM.
10. Discrete graphic card? Don't know, probably not worth it. I have to watch videos and move my desktop, that's all.
> Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 2
> [...]
While there is a lot to like about modern ThinkPad X1 series, beware that modern Intel "MIPI" webcams (like the one in this model) are unlikely to be convenient to use on Linux for the time being [1]. MIPI support is coming to Linux, both kernel and user space, but it is highly nontrivial, and a reasonable estimate is two years from now [2]. Or, you can make it work right now, but it requires some temporary hacks [3].
[1] https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Lenovo_ThinkPad_X1_Nano_(Ge...
Port Windows 2000 to it, hit me up and name your price.
Anything on Windows (or Linux considering you'd install that) I wouldn't even touch below 24-32GB or 16GB to begin with and then expandable up to at least +16GB.
It is so shocking to see people declare their laptop just works at the soldiered xGB RAM. Well, a year and half later it will start feeling the pinch.
There was sale recently in my country across online retailers like Amazon. There was decent discount on 8GB one, but the 16GB one? It’s not even available. It is never available with retailers.
Furthermore, I want a red one. Sick of this silver stuff.
I do agree that Macbook air from a hardware perspective is a very good configuration for a general purpose laptop, but the MacOS absolutely ruins these laptops, at least for me. Having a work issued Mac, its kind of amazing to me with how much bullshit OS things people, especially technical ones, just put up with.
Sadly JDM exclusive and has soldered RAM, but the latest models come with a 3:2 display, decent I/O (e.g. RJ45, full sized SD card reader, even VGA (!)), magnesium alloy chassis and a removable battery in a sub 1.1 kg package. Can't speak for the quality of the trackpad or keyboard though.
Shame that they are not more widely available.
But I see you can buy the English keyboard on eBay.
The circular trackpad is an acknowledgement that most engineers hate using trackpads, generally only will use a laptop docked, and would rather have a better typing experience than a giant trackpad that will only get in the way the few times they do use the laptop on the go.
“If you can’t do it in the keyboard it’s not worth doing”
I've used the following recently:
- Framework 1st gen - Dell XPS 13 - Macbook Pro 14" (m1) - Dell Precision 5570
I wouldn't say that the framework is perfect, there are a number of minor complaints I have with it.
However, it holds its own, and I really do love it, especially while running linux.
I hope that Framework the company continues to support the early models with new mainboards and parts. If so, I'll be a very loyal customer.
Oh, and the fact that I know I'll be able to replace the battery when the time comes is a beautiful feeling!
At the end of the day, commercial clamshell laptops... 1. Have terrible ergonomics, due to the small distance between the keyboard and the screen (unless you're a baby, in which case, hi!). The small screen size doesn't help unless you're okay carrying a 17" laptop around. 2. Have components that will fail due to hardware wear and tear. Most noticeable are the hinges but also USB/audio ports and sometimes keyboards. Be it gunk or an accidental pet dropping the laptop on the port.
A few companies occasionally try to address [1] - like the Asus Easel or the Lenovo/Asus folding laptops that improve portability or screen angle/position. Framework laptops address [2], but are traditional clamshell.
If you truly want a solution, a. Choose a decent single board computer (SBC) as a base, like a gigabyte brix. b. Print a 3d case for it to make it as small as possible. c. Spin your own display from panelook. d. Attach case from (2) with an expanding hinge-type contraption. e. Embellish with desired parts. I'd suggest framework expansion cards. f. ??? g. Profit!
(It doesn't hurt that 4"*4" and VESA-compatible SBCs and miniPCs are often standardized at least in 2 dimensions. And if anyone's interested in anything more on this front - making one, selling it, making a business of selling it etc - feel free to reach out to me (email in profile). I'm frustrated with modern laptops and fortunately have a degree in mechanical engineering.)
That said, I think what you posted as a solution is not practical and perhaps not portable (Multiple pieces? wires?); maybe something like what you're thinking as an easy-to-use/portable/commercial solution could be a design goal for future portable PCs.
Seriously though, this is the one thing that has kept me a ThinkPad user ever since I got my first university-issued laptop 21 years ago. I've had other laptops since then, and I've never liked any of them. Once I've got my hands in a comfortable position for typing on a laptop, I often have to move either my entire arm or my entire laptop in order to use a trackpad. I don't even really want my laptop to have a trackpad, it's just something for my palm to accidentally hit.
No, it's not comfortable for extended gaming or other things like that, but honestly if I'm not using an external mouse for that I'm going to be pretty grumpy anyway.
It seems to me like overshooting my target (say, a window close button) is much easier with a trackpoint and much slower to recover from vs. using a trackpad.
Fullsize HDMI, 16:10 screen, headphone jack, sd card reader, USB C and USB A, large touchpad, keyboard is quite good (for me), screen is AMOLED (glossy but nice), battery life is quite good (I get about 6 hours of medium use), it's quite thin with small bezels,fans are a bit noisy but it's not something I care about, SSD is upgradeable (plus another slot for expansion/dual boot), RAM is soldered unfortunately, webcam is good, mics are good. Linux support is getting better, originally it was useless but after a few kernel updates it works quite well. Fingerprint reader doesn't work on Linux though.
I love the combo of my 14" M2 + Anker 737
It's not an alternative for a M2 MacBook, nor is it going to run your 200+ microservices but for 200-300 bucks they tick a lot of the boxes and work great as ultra-portable productivity machines.
However that generation of the Chromebook Pixel had a defect of some sort where the adhesives in the screen breakdown after about 6-7 years and leak into the display, causing discoloration. In fact if you have one of these and have left it untouched for a good amount of time you should check it, there's probably adhesive that has leaked onto the keyboard.
This single incident where my favorite laptop is basically unusable after 6-7 years with no way to raid another one for a spare display (they all have this problem, and their display isn't interchangeable with the 2013 model)is why I'm an even bigger proponent of right to repair and easily upgradeable or interchangeable parts. If I had my way of things, I'd simply open up the computer every few years and replace the motherboard with something more modern but keep the shell. If I knew how to design motherboards or replace laptop displays without completely destroying or scratching the chassis I would. Watching the screen slowly discolor and turn to a milky blue is almost like watching a beloved dog get old and develop cataracts.
After trying a Slimbook I don't think I'll buy another brand unless a company like this one pops up. Of course Tuxedo is an equally good alternative but Slimbook HQ is literally 45 min away from home so that's a plus to me.
They make laptops fully compatible with linux, offer great custom support, their designs are pretty nice in my opinion, good specs, quality build, good battery life (except for the "gaming" laptops), good trackpads, etc.
I wanted power. This has a Ryzen 9 and 32 GB RAM. I needed a 13 inch form factor because I use external monitors and don't want to lug around a large laptop.
And for the keyboard, I use a Kinesis Advantage 2 most of the time, but I had a very specific form factor requirment as well, I wanted to be able to use the laptop with the keyboard folded up under it. This gave me the ability to do that and plop my Kinesis in front of it. More desk space!
I like the built in keyboard though and for the life of me, I don't like trackpads. I've used a Mac before and while the trackpad is nice, and I've considered attaching a Magic Trackpad to my keyboard, I'm in love with trackballs. I use a Logitech MX Ergo Plus, and it is wonderful. I use Qtile so I don't really rely on the mouse much, but when I do, the trackball is great.
But I get the appeal of a Mac. I've considered getting a 13 inch MacBook and using it to just ssh into a cloud machine for work. I'm on the fence about it, but I might do that one day and just live my life in the terminal.
Closest I ever found was HP Omen 16 Advantage Edition. Got it but it also has problems with trackpad, cheap speakers (B&O brand is meaningless), and power supply is a brick. Could use a 16:10 display (its QHD though). 8/10.
This is a landmark model, a classic, a perfect machine.
I've been using the 2020 M1 MacBook Air base model (8 GB Ram, 256 GB HD) for almost 3 years now as a daily driver. I'm a software engineer and I use it to do web development, often with a single large external monitor. I have the base model and it holds up find to running multiple docker containers and my terminal and a couple dozen browser tabs and my editor and all the basic tools of software development.
The design is particularly sleek and minimalist, even as MacBooks go. It has everything it needs and nothing it doesn't.
And it is solidly built. I dropped my MacBook on a concrete floor at an airport from about shoulder height (I was holding it by squeezing it with my armpit while trying to pack up after going through security and it slipped) and it took a pretty good solid hit directly on the corner -- I have a small dent there in the aluminum that you would have to look pretty close to see, and other than that everything was fine.
The battery lasts for so long that I often go a day or two without even thinking about where my charger is.
It is very light, it has a fingerprint reader that works perfectly, and everything about it just seems functional and elegant.
Also, it's super fast and snappy.
I think this will go down in history as a landmark model. Apple did a particularly good job with this machine and I believe it will stand the test of time. This is a machine that a person could use for a decade. It's really nice and really well put together and well integrated as an overall package.
Macbooks are not perfect, but lenovos are not good.
That distinction would only matter if the comparison was limited to Windows laptops only, because that would establish a baseline that is the same for every single option. Some people want nothing to do with any OS outside of Windows, and that't their choice, nothing wrong with that. Once Windows-only limitation is gone, that distinction becomes kinda pointless.
I am currently in the process of choosing a laptop and it's one of my main requirements. So far, I'm looking with tender eyes to the MSI Prestige 13 EVO. I have no idea about Linux compatibility, thought.
Either 100% USB-C, or include a USB-A port. I'm really sick of laptops containing ports that I'll never use, but needing to STILL carry around an adaptor. I don't see how anyone can justify getting rid of USB-A (which everyone needs,) while still keeping things like 3.5mm headphone jacks, SD Card readers, HDMI... Just go USB-C only (and make everyone carry an adaptor) or include a USB-A port with the plethora of ports that I'll never use.
I really want to bring back 17" laptops. I know this is a niche market, but I really miss my old 2007 MBP's wiiiiide screen. I don't mind the weight and the size; and there's plenty of smaller laptops on the market for everyone else.
I was gonna say, I don't use Apple devices anymore but no one makes touchpads like Apple. I have no idea what it is or why it's apparently so hard to replicate, but MacBook touchpads seem to intuitively work exactly how I expect them to, to the point that they're pretty much as seamless to use as a mouse. No non-Mac model I'd used before or since measures up.
I love the sub-1kg weight and paper thin feel despite being a 14". The first laptop I comfortably use in my lap.
Only annoyance is the random short bursts of (low) fan usage, even on light load. Been able to fix the worst with pinning the max frequency down while doing light work, but looking to find a way to program it better. I would prefer a constant low fan use much more than these constant turning on and offs.
Checking that this isn't in the article, I noticed the word "RAM" isn't mentioned at all. Did someone say 24GB? I ordered 2x16 but then found that Lenovo ( >:( ) soldered on one of the sticks and I ended up with 24. Haven't run out yet. Though that may not be the most hedged against developers' speculation on user hardware progression for no reason other than to be more lazy (looking at Signal and Telegram here, among others).
Hot-swap modules, a sturdy build, a great screen, keyboard and trackpad.
The touchpad is the first thing I disable on any laptop. I use the keyboard and the red dot.
No laptop has a decent DAC. If you want a good dac, just get something external. Don't need to spend a lot either, even a relatively cheap ~$70 product will vastly outperform anything in a laptop, desktop or phone.
They actually put a really good audio subsystem in these things.
You don't need to spend a lot, but it really comes down to a couple things:
* External, dedicated DAC
* The software doing playback has exclusive control over the device (no Windows/Apple/Android audio mixers messing it up)
* Set it for bit-perfect playback (this will disable any mixers available in the application)
* [If possible] Play a lossless copy of the audio or use a streaming service that offers that option (space is cheap in 2023)
Bam. Those steps will be night-and-day over anything integrated, it's not even close.
Hell, the $9 headphone adaptor vastly outperformed a number of $100+ DACs.
The primary limitation of headphone quality onboard laptops is generally EMI, not the DAC. The Apple hardware is shockingly good on this front.
However, in practice having a cheap external DAC is a massive improvement, even if the hardware is fairly similar.
I think a good chunk of it is just being able to give the software exclusive control over the DAC, and passing in the results bit-perfectly, bypassing any mixers in the OS or software. Many integrated setups will do dumb things like resample, convert DSD to PCM, can't handle high bit depths or rates, etc.
In my experience, it's night and day when you have it set up correctly, even with a very cheap external DAC.
For example, the Pro/Mac Macbook Pro supports 96Khz Audio at 32 Bits according to the same built in midi tool that you would also use to adjust the bitrates of external DACs. Sure my Onyx Artist 1 - 2 supports 24 bit at 192Khz...but the external headphone jack in the latest Macs also adds a fun bonus: A built in Amp for headphones over 300 Ohms. It's a weird add, but a wonderful one. (I do dislike that it is just a resistance detector that enables it though, my Planar HifiMan headphones are just under the cut so I have to drive them with an AMP for better sound.)
Obviously, this all goes out the Window on iOS of course.
Thankfully most motherboard manufacturers have this figured out well enough that noisy audio jacks are a thing of the past.
I have a big GPU. Big GPU makes noise. That noise goes through the PCIe connector and into the motherboard. It then made it to the ethernet port. It went through my ethernet port to my ethernet switch, which then made it to the Raspberry Pi I was using for streaming, which went into my DAC, AMP and finally speakers.
It was because I was using shielded twisted pair, which connects the ground plane.
Power isolation is an insidious problem!
https://www.pcworld.com/article/1797659/lenovo-slim-pro-7-re...
I’m mainly interested in it having the Nvidia RTX 3050 6GB as mobile GPU for hw encoding and decoding and some CUDA.
Have you run into any problems with their fancy power modes or mixing onboard AMD graphics and the NVIDIA card?
It also has quite nice system specs - 11th gen i7 and 32 GB RAM.
Webcams are a waste of bezel space, might as well get a non-junk USB one. Plus you can position it for shots other than up your nose.
Give me like 8 USB-C ports and nothing else.
16:10 is OK but if we’re going for Perfect Laptop, obviously 4:3 is the correct aspect ratio.
The current Apple Bluetooth magic keyboards are fine, use that (with a non wireless interface of course).
These opinions are my own but they are also objectively correct.
+1 to 8 USB-Cs!
Speaking for myself, I just had a strong attachment to my sort of middle-of-the-road headphones (Sennheiser HD380 pro). I don’t think anyone could reasonably call them audiophile. But they were expensive “to me” on a student budget, so I was worried/annoyed that somebody would mess with my (in retrospect quite limited) “investment.”
Then I tried a cheap external dongle, the Ifi Go Link. It's fantastic and I'd never go back to the crap they put into the phone.
For me a great keyboard includes having an ergonomic layout and being programmable via QMK or similar.
X1 carbon would be perfect if the would simply match the battery size of the MacBook.
- well built small form factor, metal, premium feeling
- hi-dpi and bright 90hz screen (I think recently they upped to 120hz. very smooth)
- affordable 32gb ram variant
- powerful and efficient CPU for daily tasks + some dev here and there
- amazing keyboard. I still think Lenovo laptop keyboards have the best feel.
> at least a 16:10 ratio, if not taller
Should the ratio be at least or at most 16:10?
The current 14" Macbook Pro comes with 3024x1964. Some other laptops go even higher.
It's my first comment here: don't buy any puri.sm products. Or better say, think thrice before doing so. I used to own Librem 15 v4 which I bought in April 2020. Everything was bad. Just barely usable as a laptop. In January 2022 I spilled a water on the keyboard and some keys got stuck, so it kept on typing some letters sporadically. Tried to replace keyboard –> 150$ + delivery because it's the whole top panel to replace. No. OK, disconnected the keyboard and bought a compact Lenovo keyboard (also appeared to be a trashy thing). Half a year later the battery died. No chance to replace, out-of-stock, not even on chinese eshops.
Also, I preordered Librem 5 all the way back in 2019. Decided to cancel the order a year ago – still waiting for my money to come back.
Puri.sm gave me an impression of a scam copmany, unfortunately.
Librem 15 is an amazing machine, still my daily driver with Qubes OS. Great keyboard, upgradeable RAM and disk, doesn't require any blobs in the userland.
Librem 14 is even better, with two .m2 SSD, upgradeable and powerful. Definitely checks many boxes in TFA. Too smal for my taste but great for travelling.
Yes, Purism has problems with refunds. Don't buy if you want to cancel your order. Everything else is great. Also, forums say that first versions of their devices may have rough edges. Wait until they are well tested to be sure. Librem 14 is well tested and many early problems were solved. Same for Librem 5.
Nothing if you're mainly going to use it to watch HD movies. I don't mind the resolution on a 13-14 inch screen to much to be fair, but IMHO 16:9 is really quite awful on such a small screen (and tolerable on 15-17 inch ones)
If they'd at least brought the rest of their line-up over at the same time, that'd help sell me on that having been a good idea. But no, have to carry at least two types of charging cable when traveling, still, even with an all-Apple set of equipment.