4 ms·

And every price point has one thing you want that the other ones don't have, so you end up sophie's choice-ing your way through Dell's website. And then you go

by danudey 11y ago

And every price point has one thing you want that the other ones don't have, so you end up sophie's choice-ing your way through Dell's website. And then you go from their Home to their Business site and the prices, features, bundles, and add-ons are different for the same hardware. It's the same reason Google started making Nexus phones: so that someone, somewhere, would make a good Android phone without messing something up.

tmd83 11y ago
Exactly. I mean there are basic things for which you shouldn't have to hunt models. Anything with the basic size, shape and weight should have the standard ports and connectors I am guessing they are cheap enough. Having to shop for a different line of laptop for want of 2 USB 3 port is ridiculous. This is a made up example but you get the meaning. What I think can be reasonable price points for laptop Basic build vs. premium construction (Non-plastic super rigid maybe) Weight (regular vs ultra light) Ports, keyboard, touchpad should be standard I think. Maybe premium ones might have the latest techs but nothing should be atrocious. The next bit should be priced based off whats chosen but really most cpu, ram, storage, display should be available on all model. You might restrict the premium to some high end configuration but even on a non-premium build you should be able to get high end display for most part. What you shouldn't end up is having a $1400 vs. $1500 line of products where the $1400 has got better ports or display option then the $1500 laptop.
lelandbatey 11y ago
Something I do want to note: everyone seems to only ever look at two, maybe three companies for "serious" notebooks: Dell, Lenovo, and (maybe) HP. However, I've found that by far the best company to buy laptops from is Asus. The latest example of this I've seen is the Asus Zenbook UX305LA. The specs are: 8GB Ram 256 SSD Intel Core i5-5200U 1080p IPS display A keyboard devoid of obviously poor layout[0] Nice large multi-touch trackpad[0] Weighs 2.86 lbs (1.29 kg) 8+ hours of battery Full out of the box Linux compatibility --------------------- Price: $750 It seems to have an absolutely killer set of features at a great price point, and this seems to be a trend with Asus. My current laptop is an Asus TP300LA, with nearly the same specs (though thicker and heavier), and it sold at the same ~$700 price point two years ago. I highly recommend people look to Asus for their standard "programmer machines". [0] - http://cuttingedgenotebook.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/ASUS-Zenbook-UX305LA-AB51-Keyboard.jpg http://cuttingedgenotebook.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/AS...
- ciupicri 11y ago
  There's more to a laptop than just its theoretical performance. It also needs to be reliable and tough, light-weight, ergonomic (good keyboard, touchpad that isn't touched accidentally), cool (otherwise CPU & GPU might be throttled), etc.
  - tjes 11y ago
    And to add to that, how repairable if something breaks?
- tacticus 11y ago
  the out of the box linux compatibility is a game of chance on those. you have half the models with shitty broadcom cards. a third with the only atheros cards they can find without any drivers and the remaining with an intel card for this month and realtek after that. it's just a pain in the arse to find one that you can reliably recommend. and 1920x1080 is still a shit resolution.
  - witty_username 11y ago
    I used a laptop with a broadcom card 2-3 years ago; it worked for me.
- jmspring 11y ago
  I've found the general quality of Asus machines, especially the zen book to be exceedingly poor when trying to come off of a MacBook Pro. The touchpad and keyboards typically are horrible. That's what matters to me more than ram or Cpu.
  - michaelbuddy 11y ago
    which ones? The zenbooks have been pretty sweet, accurate trackpads, decent keys, although personal preference is hard to really nail down. build quality pretty good, screens could give you 1920 matte screen even back to their 2012 iterations.
- 11y ago
al_biglan 11y ago
A huge amen to this... The universe needs 4 size formats (11, 13, 15 and 17 inch) 3 screen resolutions (1920x1200, 2560x1600, 3840x2400 (17inch only) all 16:10) 2 keyboard options on 15 and 17 inch models (with or without keypad) 4 RAM options (8, 12, 16, and 32 GB) 7 drive options (128, 256, 512 or 1TB SSD, 500GB or 1TB hybrid, 2TB HDD) 4 GPU options (Embedded, High end gaming, Mid gaming, Stable/Workstation (K620, for example)) Touchscreen or not option Removable batteries (except in thin and light and cheapest possible which have integrated batteries) 3-6 body types 1) thin and light (only 11/13/15inch) 11hr battery life, no discrete video, SSD only 2a) middle of the road plastic (13/15/17inch) 6hr or 9hr battery 2b) middle of the road metal (13/15/17inch) 6hr or 9hr battery 3a) rugged/thick/workstation (15/17inch) 4hr or 6hr battery, option slot for either BlurRay RW or 2nrd drive or 2nd video card or secondary battery 3b) thick/gaming (15/17inch) 4hr or 6hr battery, option slot for either BlurRay RW or 2nrd drive or 2nd video card or secondary battery Optional) cheapest possible (15inch) no discrete video, 6hr battery Not sure why OEM’s can’t get this straight. Also not sure why 1366x768 is still a thing nor why keyboard options aren’t a thing.
simonh 11y ago
> It's the same reason Google started making Nexus phones: so that someone, somewhere, would make a good Android phone without messing something up. The problem Google have though is they have zero input into the hardware design, other than choosing from the existing models. So their ability to prevent cock ups only extends to the software. Except there was the Nexus 7 TRIM issue that killed SSD performance and took a year to patch. I suppose they've had a lot to learn.

by danudey 11y ago

tmd83 11y ago

Exactly. I mean there are basic things for which you shouldn't have to hunt models. Anything with the basic size, shape and weight should have the standard ports and connectors I am guessing they are cheap enough. Having to shop for a different line of laptop for want of 2 USB 3 port is ridiculous. This is a made up example but you get the meaning. What I think can be reasonable price points for laptop Basic build vs. premium construction (Non-plastic super rigid maybe) Weight (regular vs ultra light) Ports, keyboard, touchpad should be standard I think. Maybe premium ones might have the latest techs but nothing should be atrocious. The next bit should be priced based off whats chosen but really most cpu, ram, storage, display should be available on all model. You might restrict the premium to some high end configuration but even on a non-premium build you should be able to get high end display for most part. What you shouldn't end up is having a $1400 vs. $1500 line of products where the $1400 has got better ports or display option then the $1500 laptop.

lelandbatey 11y ago

Something I do want to note: everyone seems to only ever look at two, maybe three companies for "serious" notebooks: Dell, Lenovo, and (maybe) HP. However, I've found that by far the best company to buy laptops from is Asus. The latest example of this I've seen is the Asus Zenbook UX305LA. The specs are: 8GB Ram 256 SSD Intel Core i5-5200U 1080p IPS display A keyboard devoid of obviously poor layout[0] Nice large multi-touch trackpad[0] Weighs 2.86 lbs (1.29 kg) 8+ hours of battery Full out of the box Linux compatibility --------------------- Price: $750 It seems to have an absolutely killer set of features at a great price point, and this seems to be a trend with Asus. My current laptop is an Asus TP300LA, with nearly the same specs (though thicker and heavier), and it sold at the same ~$700 price point two years ago. I highly recommend people look to Asus for their standard "programmer machines". [0] - http://cuttingedgenotebook.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/ASUS-Zenbook-UX305LA-AB51-Keyboard.jpg http://cuttingedgenotebook.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/AS...

ciupicri 11y ago
There's more to a laptop than just its theoretical performance. It also needs to be reliable and tough, light-weight, ergonomic (good keyboard, touchpad that isn't touched accidentally), cool (otherwise CPU & GPU might be throttled), etc.
- tjes 11y ago
  And to add to that, how repairable if something breaks?
tacticus 11y ago
the out of the box linux compatibility is a game of chance on those. you have half the models with shitty broadcom cards. a third with the only atheros cards they can find without any drivers and the remaining with an intel card for this month and realtek after that. it's just a pain in the arse to find one that you can reliably recommend. and 1920x1080 is still a shit resolution.
- witty_username 11y ago
  I used a laptop with a broadcom card 2-3 years ago; it worked for me.
jmspring 11y ago
I've found the general quality of Asus machines, especially the zen book to be exceedingly poor when trying to come off of a MacBook Pro. The touchpad and keyboards typically are horrible. That's what matters to me more than ram or Cpu.
- michaelbuddy 11y ago
  which ones? The zenbooks have been pretty sweet, accurate trackpads, decent keys, although personal preference is hard to really nail down. build quality pretty good, screens could give you 1920 matte screen even back to their 2012 iterations.
11y ago

al_biglan 11y ago

A huge amen to this... The universe needs 4 size formats (11, 13, 15 and 17 inch) 3 screen resolutions (1920x1200, 2560x1600, 3840x2400 (17inch only) all 16:10) 2 keyboard options on 15 and 17 inch models (with or without keypad) 4 RAM options (8, 12, 16, and 32 GB) 7 drive options (128, 256, 512 or 1TB SSD, 500GB or 1TB hybrid, 2TB HDD) 4 GPU options (Embedded, High end gaming, Mid gaming, Stable/Workstation (K620, for example)) Touchscreen or not option Removable batteries (except in thin and light and cheapest possible which have integrated batteries) 3-6 body types 1) thin and light (only 11/13/15inch) 11hr battery life, no discrete video, SSD only 2a) middle of the road plastic (13/15/17inch) 6hr or 9hr battery 2b) middle of the road metal (13/15/17inch) 6hr or 9hr battery 3a) rugged/thick/workstation (15/17inch) 4hr or 6hr battery, option slot for either BlurRay RW or 2nrd drive or 2nd video card or secondary battery 3b) thick/gaming (15/17inch) 4hr or 6hr battery, option slot for either BlurRay RW or 2nrd drive or 2nd video card or secondary battery Optional) cheapest possible (15inch) no discrete video, 6hr battery Not sure why OEM’s can’t get this straight. Also not sure why 1366x768 is still a thing nor why keyboard options aren’t a thing.

simonh 11y ago

> It's the same reason Google started making Nexus phones: so that someone, somewhere, would make a good Android phone without messing something up. The problem Google have though is they have zero input into the hardware design, other than choosing from the existing models. So their ability to prevent cock ups only extends to the software. Except there was the Nexus 7 TRIM issue that killed SSD performance and took a year to patch. I suppose they've had a lot to learn.