8 ms·
Are they kidding? I know the Verge is run by strange people, but their top recommendation is a Chinese laptop with a design ripped-off of the MacBook Pro, made
by scblock 8y ago
Are they kidding? I know the Verge is run by strange people, but their top recommendation is a Chinese laptop with a design ripped-off of the MacBook Pro, made by a company that we are recommended to avoid right now because of questionable connections to Chinese government?
Edit: My perspective with this comment is American.
- e40 8y agoAnd it looks like they copied the crappy Macbook keyboard!
- canjobear 8y ago? Looks like chiclet keys to me.
- ibrault 8y agoI first read the title as Macbook, even. The design is an absolute rip-off.
- laythea 8y agoNo, the X clearly discombobulates it for me :)
- nodesocket 8y agoVerge yet again showing their incompetence. Seriously though, I've heard good things about the Microsoft Surface Book 2, though I am an Apple user. Just can't go back to using Windows. Even with all my 2017 Touchbar MacBook Pro's faults, it sure beats Windows.
- old-gregg 8y agoMeh... as a portable device optimized for scrolling endless social media streams with baby/cat pics - maybe... This or MBP, there's little difference, but phones and tables are way better for that anyway. In the world of "best laptops" as in "devices we use to make stuff" it's awlays been Thinkpads competing against each other for the top spot. You can't be called even a GOOD laptop without [1] and [2] [1] https://i.stack.imgur.com/zS1SJ.png https://i.stack.imgur.com/zS1SJ.png [2] https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TTh3Xi4N6cw/WUGdgdnYjzI/AAAAAAABdY4/c0ol2F2iF3cpX1uga4SPakCZR--ef5KNQCLcBGAs/s1600/_460_0_73P2698_V7.jpg https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TTh3Xi4N6cw/WUGdgdnYjzI/AAAAAAABd...
- rayiner 8y agoMacbook trackpad >>> track point and physical buttons.
- dijit 8y agoOh how I disagree. But I suppose that's the crux, it's subjective. RE: Thinkpads though, the quality has been declining rather rapidly since 2011. For this specific feature (trackpoint) the Dell Business line (Latitude) has that: https://img.purch.com/o/aHR0cDovL2Nkbi5sYXB0b3BtYWcuY29tL2ltYWdlcy91cGxvYWRzL3BwcmVzcy80NTU4Mi9sYXRpdHVkZS01NDkwLTAwOC5qcGc= https://img.purch.com/o/aHR0cDovL2Nkbi5sYXB0b3BtYWcuY29tL2lt...
- jjoonathan 8y agoRusty nails jammed into a parallel port to bit-bang cardinal directions >>> track point.
- stochastic_monk 8y agoI prefer the track pad as well. It might be your delivery rather than the message which is being downvoted.
- hungerstrike 8y agoVertical 5 button mouse and an OS that can actually handle it (Windows) >>> trackpad and Mac OS.
- coldtea 8y ago>In the world of "best laptops" as in "devices we use to make stuff" it's awlays been Thinkpads competing against each other for the top spot. To make what stuff? Because most top-tier programmers whose stuff we actually use, use Macbooks -- just check the laptops of the headliners and speakers at any dev conference -- heck, even Linus has a history of them (running Linux in his case). As for creatives (musicians, graphic designers, etc, there's no comparison what they use to "make stuff with"). >You can't be called even a GOOD laptop without [1] and [2] Those are abominations in the eyes of all that's holy.
- 8y ago
- OxO4 8y agoThat is a very American perspective. American companies are not trustworthy either given what NSA and other American institutions have been doing. As a customer, you just get to choose your butcher but nothing more. The only solution in the long run is to design open hardware and use open software.
- awalton 8y agoIt doesn't necessarily mean they're wrong though. I have personally lamented that Dell or HP don't build a very similar machine, as I'd buy that in a microsecond. It really and truly looks to be the best hardware on the market right now... it's just a shame you can't trust the firmware not to be backdoored.
- rch 8y agoDell is selling equally nice (IMO) laptops that actually run Linux out of the box. That's not a comment on security or anything, but it happens to be important to me right now.
- Boulth 8y agoI've been burned by their XPS 9350 and the TB15 that should really be recalled to trust Dell again :(
- awalton 8y agoYeah it's nice Dell is building Linux machines, but they're not equally nice by my measure. Dell's machines are usually made of lots of various bits of squeaky, often ill-fitting plastic, they usually still require barrel power adapters of various sizes that rarely match between models and have HUGE bricks you have to lug around, and the logic which they use to choose which machines have which display options available seems to be casting bones. Dell really couldn't go wrong just taking the xerox machine to Huawei's machine. Aluminum body, USB-C power, 3:2 high-DPI display, new processors and maxed out memory, and it's pretty damned light at under 1.5kg. It even nicely hides the camera under the keyboard so you don't have to put obnoxious tape under the lid. It says a hell of a lot the biggest design change I'd make would be to put USB-C ports on both sides so you could charge it from either side.
- coldtea 8y ago>know the Verge is run by strange people, but their top recommendation is a Chinese laptop with a design ripped-off of the MacBook Pro Review sites are always struggling to include or nominate some second-tier PC, to avoid having always a MacBook Pro or iPhone as the first choice -- even when the alternative is subpar. >made by a company that we are recommended to avoid right now because of questionable connections to Chinese government? That's really quite irrelevant. Besides, have the US government also warned people not to use Facebook, Google, and co, because of their ties with it and its surveillance?
- monocasa 8y agoI think that says more about Apple that it appears that a open and unashamed clone manages to execute the concept better.
- gonvaled 8y agoReally fed up with this. We have been buying american hardware and software for decades, and now you are offended because other producers are caching up? I am also going to do my bit and stop buying, and recommending, anything american. Nationalism cuts both ways, and you have started this "trade war".
- scblock 8y agoNo, not nationalism. Seemingly legitimate worries about security. I was just clarifying that I was speaking from an American perspective, where US government has published warnings against a specific set of manufacturers, not all Chinese products. This moronic trade war is not relevant to that position, and I am not at all a fan of the current administration.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- hyder_m29 8y agoDoesn't the NSA and FBI collectively have backdoors on most major consumer hardwares? Wouldn't that be a security concern for the rest of the world?
- some_account 8y agoThe US government still has credibility with you? I guess that is nationalism because it's not rational. You can't trust people who lie repeatedly.
- 8y ago
- some_account 8y agoIt's a really nice computer. You go buy Dell if you want American stuff, but this machine looks like its beating them. How much innovation has Dell done lately? Or Intel? Or Microsoft? Or Apple? We get maybe 10% faster cpus, maybe 10% better batteries, maybe a few less ports from Apple, maybe a few more guides in Windows... Its all pretty stagnated. I welcome our new Chinese overlords. :)
- forgot-my-pw 8y agoMy friend has one and it's really nice. I haven't used the new Macbook Pro yet, but the Matebook is one of the best laptop I ever tried for sure.
- rqs 8y ago> but their top recommendation is a Chinese laptop with a design ripped-off of the MacBook Pro Well, 'ripped-off' is too strong for this very case, as laptops now days looks more or less the same (Just like smartphones). As a Chinese, I don't think I'll ever buy this Matebook thing (big Dell and ThinkPad fan here), but what I interested is how Apple would respond to all these 'ripped-off' products. Will they finally decide to design something that I don't resist to buy? For example, the soldered SSD, that's a big NO NO for me. Especially when I realized that few drops of coffee can send me to the deep depression for a long while. And also, the keyboard. I'm 100% admire those who can type on it all days and still managed to keep all their fingers at full length. About the 'ripped-off' thing, I think it's fundamentally because one simple reason: It's not very hard to build laptops similar to Macbook anymore. Samsung, LG, ASUS etc, all started to make their own version of 'Macbook's (they call that Ultrabook). To me, when you saw everyone is rolling out similar products, it's a sign of everybody is hitting a global glass ceiling. Only wonder is who can penetrate it first.
- avn2109 8y ago>> "laptop with a design ripped-off of the MacBook Pro" All I want is a 2014 Macbook Pro with modern processors and a ton of ram. "A design ripped-off of the Macbook Pro" sounds absolutely ideal to me. That's a feature not a bug.