6 ms·

My advice: Instead of supporting a bunch of hardware poorly make one laptop like the macbook pro with: * 2 ram slots * 2 M.2 SSD slots * a decent kb * a dec

My advice: Instead of supporting a bunch of hardware poorly make one laptop like the macbook pro with: * 2 ram slots * 2 M.2 SSD slots * a decent kb * a decent touchpad * a decent screen * discrete graphics * good battery management (you can do this because it's only one) * thunderbolt 3 * at least 3 usb ports * no dvd * ONE TRRS audio port * ethernet * HDMI for legacy reasons forget about * thinnest * lightest * or any other 'best' quality - it just has to be good * touchscreen - no one uses this after day 2 or wants fingerprints on their screen You will sell a lot of these.

sandGorgon 10y ago
you mean the XPS 15 ? this is pretty much what you described and you can buy it right now. You missed on thing though - NVME SSD compatibility. Its the only innovation in hardware that can get you performance gains for the next couple of years. I gave up the 2 ram slots in exchange for a single removable NVME SSD slot for the ultra thin XPS 13. The integrated graphics card is powerful enough to play Bioshock Infinite. And it runs Fedora brilliantly
- RandyRanderson 10y ago
  Me and probably most developers could use 32GB RAM at least once every month. Sure, most don't but why not just put 2 slots on the board? NVME SSD is there, agreed. A lot of ppl are using the discrete graphics for 3d modeling, encoding vids, ML or the newest, more taxing games. Historically the Intel drivers have not been up to snuff here.
dandelion_lover 10y ago
https://minifree.org/product/libreboot-x220/ https://minifree.org/product/libreboot-x220/ Upd: this is a 12" laptop. However, they offered Libreboot X400 before, which is 14". You can still get one via https://minifree.org/product/libreboot-installation-service/ https://minifree.org/product/libreboot-installation-service/
- romanovcode 10y ago
  This computer looks like it comes from 90s.
  - infodroid 10y ago
    > it comes from the 90's What does that even mean? Can you be more specific?
    - 8draco8 10y ago
      That probably means that it's not rose gold aluminium unibody.
      - infodroid 10y ago
        ...or also because it has a removable battery, a trackpoint and multimedia keys, video and ethernet ports and a docking adapter, and venting to run with the cover closed without overheating.
        8draco8 10y ago
        So it IS actually a machine for professional use, not just to draw some attention at coffee shop.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - 8draco8 10y ago
    Because it's Thinkpad and it should look like that.
e12e 10y ago
> touchscreen - no one uses this after day 2 or wants fingerprints on their screen As a counterpoint: I've turned off the touchpad on my Surface pro 4 - and constantly touch non-touch screens when I'm helping others... I rarely use a pointing device though - for example I use vimperator/vimium for web browsing and vi for editing (or vi keybindingings in vs code). But I guess I agree that I don't want a touch screen without a great pen with at least some pressure sensitivity - drawing really is so much more fun and easy - both diagrams, notes and doodles.
noja 10y ago
Where did you get these specs from? A survey?
- RandyRanderson 10y ago
  From the hot, sweaty dreams of most developers. If Apple adds a decent discrete graphics chip to their pro line, I believe Dell, etc sales in this segment will crater and a lot of developers will just stop using windows. Thats really bad in the long term for MS and Dell, etc becaues those users are not coming back and are the ppl that others ask about what laptop to buy. For some reason, the big laptop manufacturers refuse to make this laptop. Smaller ones can't afford the chip volumes to make them. The closest thing I've found is the MSI gs73 with the nvidia 1050ti. The issue: they put a regular mechanical drive is instead of more battery, which gives it a mere 2.5hours of battery. :<
  - noja 10y ago
    I don't know any (non-game) developers that want discrete graphics, modern integrated is more than enough.
    - RandyRanderson 10y ago
      Machine Learning, accel rendering of videos (aka youtube publishers).
xorcist 10y ago
> discrete graphics Who needs this? It is the one thing I tell people to stay away from when they're shopping for hardware. If you can get by with integrated graphics, do it. It saves energy and a whole lot of frustration. Stick with upstreamed drivers only if you want to keep your sanity.
- RandyRanderson 10y ago
  Not all, but a lot of ppl use the GPU for games, 3d modelling , machine learning or encoding vids. Enough that adding the chip removes a lot of complaints. Also, historically Intel 3d drivers haven't been great. If you work on the drivers (again you can because you only have to support one config) you can switch bt the two and get pretty good batt usage. Finally, this is one of the big complaints many mac users have.
merb 10y ago
make a 15" version that weights only 2kg and has 1080p or the retina size and maybe for some people the 4k version. with fedora and open hardware. i would buy it on day one.
lima 10y ago
Partnering with an established vendor like Lenovo would make more sense. Modern ThinkPads (Carbon X1, T460[s], ...) come pretty close to your requirements.
- RandyRanderson 10y ago
  Ya there's so many that are pretty close but do something crazy like only support soldered on 8GB ram while including a DVD because that's something ppl use according to 2007.
  - lima 10y ago
    T460s has both extensible memory and no DVD. Really nice machine.
    - RandyRanderson 10y ago
      Pretty nice. But, again, no discrete graphics.
ccozan 10y ago
maybe this? https://dot.kde.org/2017/01/26/kde-and-slimbook-release-laptop-kde-fans https://dot.kde.org/2017/01/26/kde-and-slimbook-release-lapt...
zoom6628 10y ago
Im very happy with Linux Mint 18 on my MacBook Air (2013model). The best hardware and Mint made possible using rEFInd boot manager. Everything 'just works'.
konart 10y ago
Soon https://system76.com/laptops/galago https://system76.com/laptops/galago
herbst 10y ago
I rather have no dedicated graphics and couldn't care less about touch pad and screen but want a decent keyboard. People want different things, that's something Apple always sucked for

sandGorgon 10y ago

you mean the XPS 15 ? this is pretty much what you described and you can buy it right now. You missed on thing though - NVME SSD compatibility. Its the only innovation in hardware that can get you performance gains for the next couple of years. I gave up the 2 ram slots in exchange for a single removable NVME SSD slot for the ultra thin XPS 13. The integrated graphics card is powerful enough to play Bioshock Infinite. And it runs Fedora brilliantly

RandyRanderson 10y ago
Me and probably most developers could use 32GB RAM at least once every month. Sure, most don't but why not just put 2 slots on the board? NVME SSD is there, agreed. A lot of ppl are using the discrete graphics for 3d modeling, encoding vids, ML or the newest, more taxing games. Historically the Intel drivers have not been up to snuff here.

dandelion_lover 10y ago

https://minifree.org/product/libreboot-x220/ https://minifree.org/product/libreboot-x220/ Upd: this is a 12" laptop. However, they offered Libreboot X400 before, which is 14". You can still get one via https://minifree.org/product/libreboot-installation-service/ https://minifree.org/product/libreboot-installation-service/

romanovcode 10y ago
This computer looks like it comes from 90s.
- infodroid 10y ago
  > it comes from the 90's What does that even mean? Can you be more specific?
  - 8draco8 10y ago
    That probably means that it's not rose gold aluminium unibody.
    - infodroid 10y ago
      ...or also because it has a removable battery, a trackpoint and multimedia keys, video and ethernet ports and a docking adapter, and venting to run with the cover closed without overheating.
      - 8draco8 10y ago
        So it IS actually a machine for professional use, not just to draw some attention at coffee shop.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- 8draco8 10y ago
  Because it's Thinkpad and it should look like that.

e12e 10y ago

> touchscreen - no one uses this after day 2 or wants fingerprints on their screen As a counterpoint: I've turned off the touchpad on my Surface pro 4 - and constantly touch non-touch screens when I'm helping others... I rarely use a pointing device though - for example I use vimperator/vimium for web browsing and vi for editing (or vi keybindingings in vs code). But I guess I agree that I don't want a touch screen without a great pen with at least some pressure sensitivity - drawing really is so much more fun and easy - both diagrams, notes and doodles.

noja 10y ago

Where did you get these specs from? A survey?

RandyRanderson 10y ago
From the hot, sweaty dreams of most developers. If Apple adds a decent discrete graphics chip to their pro line, I believe Dell, etc sales in this segment will crater and a lot of developers will just stop using windows. Thats really bad in the long term for MS and Dell, etc becaues those users are not coming back and are the ppl that others ask about what laptop to buy. For some reason, the big laptop manufacturers refuse to make this laptop. Smaller ones can't afford the chip volumes to make them. The closest thing I've found is the MSI gs73 with the nvidia 1050ti. The issue: they put a regular mechanical drive is instead of more battery, which gives it a mere 2.5hours of battery. :<
- noja 10y ago
  I don't know any (non-game) developers that want discrete graphics, modern integrated is more than enough.
  - RandyRanderson 10y ago
    Machine Learning, accel rendering of videos (aka youtube publishers).

xorcist 10y ago

> discrete graphics Who needs this? It is the one thing I tell people to stay away from when they're shopping for hardware. If you can get by with integrated graphics, do it. It saves energy and a whole lot of frustration. Stick with upstreamed drivers only if you want to keep your sanity.

RandyRanderson 10y ago
Not all, but a lot of ppl use the GPU for games, 3d modelling , machine learning or encoding vids. Enough that adding the chip removes a lot of complaints. Also, historically Intel 3d drivers haven't been great. If you work on the drivers (again you can because you only have to support one config) you can switch bt the two and get pretty good batt usage. Finally, this is one of the big complaints many mac users have.

merb 10y ago

make a 15" version that weights only 2kg and has 1080p or the retina size and maybe for some people the 4k version. with fedora and open hardware. i would buy it on day one.

lima 10y ago

Partnering with an established vendor like Lenovo would make more sense. Modern ThinkPads (Carbon X1, T460[s], ...) come pretty close to your requirements.

RandyRanderson 10y ago
Ya there's so many that are pretty close but do something crazy like only support soldered on 8GB ram while including a DVD because that's something ppl use according to 2007.
- lima 10y ago
  T460s has both extensible memory and no DVD. Really nice machine.
  - RandyRanderson 10y ago
    Pretty nice. But, again, no discrete graphics.

ccozan 10y ago

maybe this? https://dot.kde.org/2017/01/26/kde-and-slimbook-release-laptop-kde-fans https://dot.kde.org/2017/01/26/kde-and-slimbook-release-lapt...

zoom6628 10y ago

Im very happy with Linux Mint 18 on my MacBook Air (2013model). The best hardware and Mint made possible using rEFInd boot manager. Everything 'just works'.

konart 10y ago

Soon https://system76.com/laptops/galago https://system76.com/laptops/galago

herbst 10y ago

I rather have no dedicated graphics and couldn't care less about touch pad and screen but want a decent keyboard. People want different things, that's something Apple always sucked for