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Comment by p_ing | Hacker News Reader

An all metal build doesn't stand up well to abuse versus higher quality plastics.

Looks nicer. For a time, or if taken care of.

That’s certainly up for debate. Thinkpads are some of the most rugged laptops available, and their top models are made from magnesium alloys or carbon fibre. Only their lower end E and L series are ABS builds.

In my personal experience, my MacBooks look much less shinier/worn out in the palm rest areas on either sides of trackpad compared to any windows laptop I’ve owned, which include an Alienware R15.

I don’t know enough about material science to have more than empirical data or correlations, though.

Ask me about my PowerBook G4 Ti! Loved that laptop. Too bad about the titanium.

I actually dig the patinated look of my dented and scratched old MBP and my current MBA. My plastic Dells from work always look terrible after a few trips living in my backpack and getting banged around. Haven't had actual usability issues with either though.

I have.

Plastic is great, until your laptop falls and the plastic shell shatters. That's the weakness of plastic - it's brittle. I have a ten year old macbook with a dinged aluminium chassis. The structure of the shell is still intact despite a few falls.

Not all plastics are brittle, even after time. It is highly dependent on the plastic used.

ok, now please explain whether any plastic is more or less brittle than aluminium.

It's not.

That being said, aluminum will suffer from dents and scratches. Every material is a trade off. You're not going to pull a "gotcha" comment, here.

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