3 ms·

I get that this would be desirable for a lot of people - but not for me. It's definitely cute, it's definitely portable, but if you can afford the difference be

I get that this would be desirable for a lot of people - but not for me. It's definitely cute, it's definitely portable, but if you can afford the difference between this and a regular MacBook or something with a similar form factor, why not just grab the latter? It's not as if you can fit this in a pocket or something - you'd still need a bag/backpack to carry this around comfortably, and then why not just use a full-fledged laptop with a larger screen, arguably easier-to-use pointer. I honestly cannot see myself being as productive on one of these as I am on my regular old laptop. Despite this article claiming that this device would have all the capabilities of a normal laptop, I think this fails in some of the same ways that smartbooks did in the past. Who -really- wants to do serious work on one of these instead of a laptop with a normal-sized screen? I can imagine potential strain on the eyes after a long time working on one of these - not to mention the seemingly awkward aspect ratio. To each their own, though.

ido 10y ago
I use a Dell xps13 (13" screen in an 11" laptop chassis, almost no bezel). The (very high DPI) monitor is just barley large enough for comfort. I wouldn't want to work on anything smaller. Although there's still a bunch to cut down in thickness & weight.
- Brakenshire 10y ago
  Yes, in my opinion the magazine sizing they show in the picture is close to the limit most people would want. Cutting the sideways size doesn't give enough portability benefit to justify losing so much screen space. The manufacturers have got it right in the direction they have been going, to increase battery life, decrease the size of the bezel, decrease weight and thickness, and also improve robustness and waterproofing, so that it is no more of a hassle to carry around than a magazine, and so that you could read it like a magazine (or a tablet). We're not too far away from that. The Macbook, the Surface and the Chromebook Flip are all in the 0.9-1kg range, now it's incremental progress to reduce weight to 500-600g, improve fanless performance, and meet all the other goals above. We'll probably also see commodity pricing of fanless processors through ARM competition with Core-M, so that the prices of these devices end up closer to the Chromebook Flip than the Surface.
  - ido 10y ago
    Yep. Although even my Skylake i7 xps13 can use better performance (it subjectively feels slower than a desktop sandy bridges i7, 5 years it's senior).
  - kartickv 10y ago
    Interesting. I do think there's demand for smaller devices. For example, some people get their work done on a tablet.
- kartickv 10y ago
  I'm personally in the big screen camp as well, having recently bought an iMac 27. When I used a laptop, it was a 15-inch. But others prefer smaller screens, even getting their work done on a tablet. I do think there's demand for that.
kartickv 10y ago
Why would there be more eyestrain working on a smaller device (assuming the same font size)? I don't feel more eyestrain when I use my iPad for half a day at a stretch than I do my Mac. Regarding your point about who wants to work on a smaller screen, people say that about the 12-inch Macbook as well. Or about working on a tablet, which some people do. I, like you, prefer big screens, but different people make different tradeoffs. To each their own, indeed.

ido 10y ago

I use a Dell xps13 (13" screen in an 11" laptop chassis, almost no bezel). The (very high DPI) monitor is just barley large enough for comfort. I wouldn't want to work on anything smaller. Although there's still a bunch to cut down in thickness & weight.

Brakenshire 10y ago
Yes, in my opinion the magazine sizing they show in the picture is close to the limit most people would want. Cutting the sideways size doesn't give enough portability benefit to justify losing so much screen space. The manufacturers have got it right in the direction they have been going, to increase battery life, decrease the size of the bezel, decrease weight and thickness, and also improve robustness and waterproofing, so that it is no more of a hassle to carry around than a magazine, and so that you could read it like a magazine (or a tablet). We're not too far away from that. The Macbook, the Surface and the Chromebook Flip are all in the 0.9-1kg range, now it's incremental progress to reduce weight to 500-600g, improve fanless performance, and meet all the other goals above. We'll probably also see commodity pricing of fanless processors through ARM competition with Core-M, so that the prices of these devices end up closer to the Chromebook Flip than the Surface.
- ido 10y ago
  Yep. Although even my Skylake i7 xps13 can use better performance (it subjectively feels slower than a desktop sandy bridges i7, 5 years it's senior).
- kartickv 10y ago
  Interesting. I do think there's demand for smaller devices. For example, some people get their work done on a tablet.
kartickv 10y ago
I'm personally in the big screen camp as well, having recently bought an iMac 27. When I used a laptop, it was a 15-inch. But others prefer smaller screens, even getting their work done on a tablet. I do think there's demand for that.

kartickv 10y ago

Why would there be more eyestrain working on a smaller device (assuming the same font size)? I don't feel more eyestrain when I use my iPad for half a day at a stretch than I do my Mac. Regarding your point about who wants to work on a smaller screen, people say that about the 12-inch Macbook as well. Or about working on a tablet, which some people do. I, like you, prefer big screens, but different people make different tradeoffs. To each their own, indeed.