Recently sold my MBP and my Mac mini and will be purchasing a new personal laptop (I have a Dell Latitude E6410 (i7, 8GB ram) for work).
I want a small powerhouse. The Lenovo TP X201 can be had with a 12.1" screen, 8GB ram, and an i7 CPU. You got to move up to a 15.4" MBP to get something better than a Core2Duo CPU. Of course, all that may change this wednesday (Apple "back to Mac" media event).
I have a habit of switching back and forth between Macs and PCs (w/ linux)...so I am leaning towards the Thinkpad. But if there is something exciting announced this wednesday, who knows? :)
2) Maybe I haven't played around with all their fancy multitouch gestures, but I really don't like the touchpad. I find it completely impossible to drag-drop with their bizarre button design. I've been reliable informed that you can't right click if you're not running OS X because the right click is implemented in software. Also, it's particularly large, and I find it gets in my way when I type on one. YMMV.
Anyway, the Thinkpad X200 is just what you need, I got the X200 because I wanted to be able to swap out the 12.1" crappy TN panel with a Boe Hydis AFFS (IPS) panel. Now I got a really advanced mini powerhouse, with the additional snappiness of an Intel 80GB SSD.
abide. the announcement is mere days away.I'm not making any decision till I see what is announced on wed.
I'd recommend getting the laptop that runs Windows.Uhhh, they can both run the nasty (http://www.microsoft.com/windows).
1) No end-user repairs (at least not easily). A friend of mine spilled water over her MBP's touchpad, which caused it to screw up. Last I checked, a replacement MBP touchpad was something like $70-90 on eBay. Compare this with the Thinkpad where a new keyboard/trackpoint is around $30 or so, and a new touchpad around the same. The manual provides intricate details on how to replace everything, and the PNs for all the various parts. It's also easy to replace the battery on them, compared with the MBP where you have to do all sorts of warranty-voiding hacks when your laptop's battery inevitably dies.
Uhhh, they can both run the nasty (http://www.microsoft.com/windows).
Uhhh, they can both run the nasty (http://www.microsoft.com/windows).
Uhhh, they can both run the nasty (http://www.microsoft.com/windows).
Uhhh, they can both run the nasty (http://www.microsoft.com/windows).
Uhhh, they can both run the nasty (http://www.microsoft.com/windows).
Well said...Show Image(http://www.videodetective.com/photos/073/003100_46.jpg)
Hey! That site wasn't about Windows Vista or Windows 98!
Uhhh, they can both run the nasty (http://www.microsoft.com/windows).
Well said...Show Image(http://www.videodetective.com/photos/073/003100_46.jpg)
Trivia points to anyone who knows what movie that image is from and "the nasty" relates to it. Rajagra perhaps should know this one based on earlier posts, :wink:.
Yes...GOLF CLAP - "Men at Work" classic movie!
3/4 credit! 1/2 for getting the movie right. 1/4 for the golf clap. I didn't specifically ask about it but have to give you credit. Only missing 1/4 for not specifically addressing "the nasty". Well done though.
Sorry I was a kid when I saw it...let's see, was that when they cleaned out the garbage truck because it was so nasty?Close enough for full credit. Sheen stops the truck at the end of the route, turns to Estevez and says, "It's time to do the nasty." Then, you see then in the back of the garbage truck, covering their faces, pushing all the slime and debris from the bottom of the bin while shouting "NASTY!", "NASTY!", "NASTY!".
Battery life and Windows drivers on Macs generally suck. And I hear this from good friends who are very pro-Apple.
They admit that even compared to non-Mac machines Macs make inferior computers when running Windows.
1) No end-user repairs (at least not easily).
2) Maybe I haven't played around with all their fancy multitouch gestures, but I
2) Maybe I haven't played around with all their fancy multitouch gestures, but I really don't like the touchpad. I find it completely impossible to drag-drop with their bizarre button design. I've been reliable informed that you can't right click if you're not running OS X because the right click is implemented in software. Also, it's particularly large, and I find it gets in my way when I type on one. YMMV.
I've heard opposite. In fact, the biggest Mac fanboy I know often runs Windows on his Mac Pro because the graphics drivers under Windows are better.
I've heard opposite. In fact, the biggest Mac fanboy I know often runs Windows on his Mac Pro because the graphics drivers under Windows are better.
That guy's pretty silly. Why get an overpriced Mac just to run Windows? It'd be a hell of a lot cheaper just to build your own PC that meets the same specifications.
Thinkpad. For my use it is more versatile, durable, customizable and depending on options, more powerful. Some can debate those but even with those things aside, this seals the deal:Show Image(http://buddinggeek.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/14288_softdome.jpg)
Trackpoint + Scissor > Touchpad + Chiclet
and the one on the Macbook would be harder to snag and accidentally pull a key off the keyboard.
Is that a frequent occurrence for you?
With a Mac Pro? Not necessarily. I've looked into it. It's somewhat cheaper (if you consider the relative price difference as opposed to the absolute price difference) but the Mac Pro will still have some nice features that are nearly impossible to get on a self made PC (such as hot-swappable hard drives)
Nontheless, on the balance, the guy doesn't play a lot of games, so he spends most of his time in OS X anyway.
My PC is about 4 years old and has hot-swappable hard drives.
I though that was common on most motherboards nowadays.
I haven't seen any basic PCs that have hot swap drives. Hot swap drive trays are readily available though and can be added if you have bays.
My PC is about 4 years old and has hot-swappable hard drives.
I though that was common on most motherboards nowadays.
SATA is hot-swappable :/
I haven't seen any basic PCs that have hot swap drives. Hot swap drive trays are readily available though and can be added if you have bays.
SATA is hot-swappable :/
Do you have a case that facilitates this properly? With a SATA backplane?
I haven't seen any basic PCs that have hot swap drives. Hot swap drive trays are readily available though and can be added if you have bays.
Yes, but the motherboard still needs to support hot-plugging.
In my case I don't have hot swap trays but I have on many occasions plugged/unplugged IDE or SATA devices while the PC was running.
SATA is hot-swappable :/
This I did not know. I thought that feature was controller/motherboard dependent.
Sure I guess, but by the time you buy a few of those, the price gap has narrowed further.
There's some other stuff, but unfortunately I can't think of it off the top of my head.
Like an AHCI option in the BIOS SATA settings?
I thought you needed a tray such as this one (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817994057).
Interesting, I thought hot-plug/hot-swap was part of the SATA spec
Yeah, that's true. But one could argue that the Mac Pro doesn't exactly "facilitate access" either, you sill have to open the case to access the drives =)
I don't see hot-swapping as being that important as to be the deal maker/breaker when choosing mac vs. pc.
Opening the side of the case is pretty easy, I wouldnt really consider it effort at all.
Well, when you get into the rarefied heights of €3,000 computers, I want bang for my figurative (and literal) buck...
At the hotswap thing - while SATA can support it, you really wouldnt want to yank out the standard connectors while the system was on, it would not end well for the hard drive, the computer, and probably your health as well...
I'd argue that the opposite is true. Besides, they are both scissor switches, and the one on the Macbook would be harder to snag and accidentally pull a key off the keyboard.
The keytops on the Apple keyboards today (the Chiclet kind) are also much closer together than those of conventional keyboards,
I did a typing test one one of those Apple chiclet keyboards, and was able to maintain 100WPM.
A poor workman always blames his tools, or so they say.
I did a typing test one one of those Apple chiclet keyboards, and was able to maintain 100WPM.
I don't mind my HP "Island" keys. 65g so they are lighter than most. My son hates em but he's a buckling spring Unicomp snob. Notice the reversed priority of the FCN keys - that kinda sucks.Show Image(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4122/4754819725_51c1f06525_z.jpg)
Show Image(http://newcomicreviews.com/cliches/golfclap.gif)
Design is absolutely vital. I didn't really think about that until I got a Macbook. Now, I can't believe I muddled through with Dell laptops for so many years before.
The Macbook Air is pricey, but it's really solid. I've seen a bunch of unboxing just to watch for any flex in the aluminum case when it's opened, and I can't see any odd movement, not even in the tiny hinges they're using.
Thinkpads are their own breed, and the build seems like it's good quality. It would be the only PC laptop that I'd buy, love that velvety trackpad that the Thinkpads have.
I am pretty impressed with the fit and finish on my $500 HP 210HD netbook.
I can live without the whole silver thing.Show Image(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4121/4755301784_795c51a00c_z.jpg)
PC OEMS are ****ing clueless, the analogy I read somewhere recently was that they are "NASCAR designs" ... so ****ing tacky and ghetto. I think HP has the nicest line going ATM, and their **** is a 100% rip of apple designs.
I have an older t60 thinkpad and a 13' macbook. Over all I much prefer the thinkpad. I know allot of people don't like the boxy look of the thinkpads but I love it. OSX is ok, but I think I prefer Windows 7 to it.
HP makes nice looking PCs? Sir, please do not me throw up in your face...
The problem is that (in my opinion) Apple will often pick aesthetics over functionality (ventilation quality, etc.).
PC form and finish has improved massively over the past few years. Say what you want about Macs, but my Thinkpad and Dell Latitude (E-Series, not D-series) both feel well made.
we are talking about laptops, specifically.
http://notebooks.com/2009/09/15/hp-envy-13-photos-and-specs/
I think HP has the nicest line going ATM, and their **** is a 100% rip of apple designs.
HP? Looks more like 'iP' to me...
This. FYI all macbook air models released so far have insufficient cooling. They get *very* hot and the cpu throttles down its clock speed to compensate.
On the flip end of the scale, I have to replace the fan in my Thinkpad. It's actually still working, but the bearings are failing and it sounds like a chainsaw when the system is under load for a long time.
Oh well, at least a new Thinkpad fan is $15 off eBay, and can be installed without having to take an angle grinder to the laptop and raping the warranty in a dozen ways...
X61 is also Lenovo :P
uhm, x60 then ^^'
I love the design of the mbp, but as a programmer, the lack of home/end/pgup/pgdn keys drives me crazy. I am selling my mbp 17" this week on ebay.
Also Lenovo.
Hint: You'd have to go back to the X42
arggg tell me about it... I used an apple wireless BTKB on my old macbook, spent most of my days in term using vim etc... ****, I wanted to kill myself.
You need home, end, page up and page down keys in Vim? What on earth for?
moving around in insert mode?
Show Image(http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/260/emacsos.jpg)
For personal reasons, I do not browse the web from my computer. (I
also have not net connection much of the time.) To look at page I
send mail to a demon which runs wget and mails the page back to me.
It is very efficient use of my time, but it is slow in real time.
moving around in insert mode? I hate having to leave modes to move around, so I have become quite accustomed to using the insert cluster and even the arrow keys. Im also a big fan of shft-ins to paste (things im not using visual block/line in the current document to copy) and I use ins to toggle insert/replace (there is in insert key on the apple compact keyboard either). I use them often enough in less/etc and on the command line in general that they are missed.
In Vim you really want to move around in normal mode.
Moving around in insert mode is very inefficient.
If you learn the correct way to move around in Vim, you'll be glad to know that bash has a Vi mode (set -o vi). Tools like less also support some Vi shortcuts for search and moving around.
As for shift+insert vs. ctrl+v, vs. command+v; end vs. command+right, etc., each platform have their own way of doing things. It's easier to work with the tools rather than expect them to all behave in the same way.
No! Let's start an emacs vs vi war!
(joking.. please don't)
No, what we have here is a Vim user who's using Vim like he's using Emacs! How dare he!
Well, I just picked up a maxed out 11.6" Macbook Air (1.6GHz C2D, 4GB ram, 128GB flash storage)
Definitely the snappiest Mac I've ever used (of course, this is the first one I've had with solid state storage). I'll post pics and impressions later. Glad to have a small, mobile laptop again.
Congrats :) I tend to favour portability over grunt when it comes to notebooks. I loved my 12" PowerBook, and am seriously considering the new MBAs right now. I'm torn between the portability of the 11" and the screen real estate of the 13".
I'm more about form factor then weight/"thinness". I could never buy a 13.3" macbook air because I can get more grunt for the same form factor with a standard macbook.
From what I've been reading, there's not much performance difference between the current 13" MBP and 13" MBA. The gap isn't as significant as it was with the last gen MBA. I wouldn't get the 13" MBP because it has a C2D. I would either get the MBA or make the jump to the 15" MBP for the i5 or i7. I used to have the aluminium unibody MacBook with a C2D.