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I'd much rather not have a laptop (for work). Study after study have shown that screen real estate and system performance improve our work output, let us use m

I'd much rather not have a laptop (for work). Study after study have shown that screen real estate and system performance improve our work output, let us use more of our working memory for task-critical state, etc. If you need portability, then sure, laptops are necessary trade-off so that you can get any work done at all. However, that's all they are: a trade-off. It's a shame if we're only optimizing for use cases that are ultimately regressive.

rayiner 11y ago
Most of the time, I use my laptop docked to two large monitors. But even still, I value the ability to take it unplugged for 12+ hours at a time when I'm travelling much more than I would value it being faster.
- seanp2k2 11y ago
  This, and this is why I loved the 17" MBP. I'd love a 19" rMBP with 4K or even native QHD screen, dedicated graphics, two SSDs (M.2 would be fine), lots of fast IO ports, and an all-day battery. I don't care how thin it is. It would spend most of the time docked to 2 or 3 external 4K displays for "real work", but then come with me to meetings and on trips. The only thing that comes close right now is a Thinkpad P70. Can get it with 64GB ECC RAM, Xeon E3-1505m, 4K 17" screen, 2 SSDs + 1 HDD, and a Quadro M5000M. The only problem is that it can't run OSX in some supported fashion, and the battery life likely isn't great. Sad that Apple has been falling short in the professional market for a while now and they expect everyone to be happy with thinner & lighter.
- teacup50 11y ago
  Why not both? I have a few laptops, and a high-end desktop; I get the best possible performance when I'm working at a desk, and acceptable performance when I'm traveling.
  - rayiner 11y ago
    It's a pain keeping multiple computers in sync. And my laptop is a 2.7GHz Core i7 with 20GB of RAM that's more than fast enough for anything I do.
    - teacup50 11y ago
      It's really not a pain; just update the SCM working copy. If your project has tendrils into the local system, that's the real problem to fix, because it's going to introduce pointless inefficiency at every level: new developer setup, production deployment, support for enterprise-installation, and ... inability to use the ideal hardware. available. Performance translates directly into working efficiency. There's no such thing as "fast enough", there's only "too expensive".

rayiner 11y ago

Most of the time, I use my laptop docked to two large monitors. But even still, I value the ability to take it unplugged for 12+ hours at a time when I'm travelling much more than I would value it being faster.

seanp2k2 11y ago
This, and this is why I loved the 17" MBP. I'd love a 19" rMBP with 4K or even native QHD screen, dedicated graphics, two SSDs (M.2 would be fine), lots of fast IO ports, and an all-day battery. I don't care how thin it is. It would spend most of the time docked to 2 or 3 external 4K displays for "real work", but then come with me to meetings and on trips. The only thing that comes close right now is a Thinkpad P70. Can get it with 64GB ECC RAM, Xeon E3-1505m, 4K 17" screen, 2 SSDs + 1 HDD, and a Quadro M5000M. The only problem is that it can't run OSX in some supported fashion, and the battery life likely isn't great. Sad that Apple has been falling short in the professional market for a while now and they expect everyone to be happy with thinner & lighter.
teacup50 11y ago
Why not both? I have a few laptops, and a high-end desktop; I get the best possible performance when I'm working at a desk, and acceptable performance when I'm traveling.
- rayiner 11y ago
  It's a pain keeping multiple computers in sync. And my laptop is a 2.7GHz Core i7 with 20GB of RAM that's more than fast enough for anything I do.
  - teacup50 11y ago
    It's really not a pain; just update the SCM working copy. If your project has tendrils into the local system, that's the real problem to fix, because it's going to introduce pointless inefficiency at every level: new developer setup, production deployment, support for enterprise-installation, and ... inability to use the ideal hardware. available. Performance translates directly into working efficiency. There's no such thing as "fast enough", there's only "too expensive".