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If the tech specs were the same, which form factor do you prefer: https://i.imgur.com/dV7WHCD.jpg https://i.imgur.com/dV7WHCD.jpg https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thum

If the tech specs were the same, which form factor do you prefer: https://i.imgur.com/dV7WHCD.jpg https://i.imgur.com/dV7WHCD.jpg https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/kfOpFgAZ4kfdK8vNUNMOlKjuYwc=/0x0:2040x1360/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2040x1360):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/11733899/vpavic_180718_2757_0021.jpg https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/kfOpFgAZ4kfdK8vNUNMOlKjuYwc=... I've owned both of these. They both have good specs for their time. The ThinkPad keyboard was wonderful. The trackpad of the MBP is wonderful but so is its size and shape. The ThinkPad was a brick. You say no one cares about thin, but once you have seen the MBP, the ThinkPad is a hard sell. (Though you youngsters should try one of those keyboards to see what you missed).

chx 8y ago
I had a Panasonic CF-Y5 back in the day, a 1.5kg 14" laptop (including a DVD burner!) https://www.notebooks-center.com/img/laptop/regular/laptop_panasonic_cfy5_lwyyzsm.jpg https://www.notebooks-center.com/img/laptop/regular/laptop_p... and due to that screen protection hump it was some 1.5" thick overall. No need to drag the nineties into this. That sort of laptop, lightweight because of quality materials but enough space for cooling is what laptops should be.
lostapathy 8y ago
I don't think anybody truly believes "customers don't care at all" like your example illustrates. But I think it's fair to say customers don't care about the last 2-3mm of thickness that Apple is sacrificing the ability to repair in order to squeeze out.
- blattimwind 8y ago
  I've heard plenty of complaints from ultrabook owners that they find the "knife point edge" design that many of these have unconfortable to handle. Generally speaking, maxizing a single aspect of a design is rarely a good choice. Making notebooks or smartphones as thin as possible (or pretending to do so, the strategies used here are borderline gaslighting) is not an intrinsic good.
- Spooky23 8y ago
  The core of the nobody cares argument is that the utility of shrinking the device is incrementally less and the costs incurred are increasing incrementally more.
dethac 8y ago
I think this is a bit of a disingenuous comparison. That ThinkPad looks to be around the mid 1990s (maybe early 2000s?). Meanwhile, if you looked at a modern ThinkPad (regardless of your opinion on Lenovo as a company), the keyboard is still category-leading, the weight is almost identical to a MacBook in the same class, and the thickness likewise. Look at, say, the X1 Extreme. Replaceable RAM and SSD. 4.06 pounds. The MBP 15" is 4.03 pounds. Now, the keyboard definitely isn't as good as it was (RIP old keyboard, may you rest in peace), but it's definitely still very competitive.
- robotresearcher 8y ago
  We agree. The fact that ThinkPads and MacBooks are both slim today suggests that people want slim laptops, contrary to the claim of the grandparent. That TP 340 I bought in 1994. It was a marvel for its time and much more affordable than the contemporaneous Mac: a more stylish brick like so: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/540c_open.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/540c_ope...
- blattimwind 8y ago
  That's a Thinkpad 750 from 1993. Either way, arguing against "consumers don't really care about having the thinnest brick on the market" by invoking early 90s hardware by comparison is of course a B/S way of arguing things.
  - robotresearcher 8y ago
    I was arguing against "Noone cares about thin laptops." That's a direct quote and different from yours. Not 'thinnest', but 'thin'. Since almost the laptops went thin, someone cared about it.
- rhizome 8y ago
  Wow, the X1s have come a long way. Possibly the only non-Mac 15" with a tenkeyless right now.
  - 8y ago
deleted 8y ago
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chx 8y ago

I had a Panasonic CF-Y5 back in the day, a 1.5kg 14" laptop (including a DVD burner!) https://www.notebooks-center.com/img/laptop/regular/laptop_panasonic_cfy5_lwyyzsm.jpg https://www.notebooks-center.com/img/laptop/regular/laptop_p... and due to that screen protection hump it was some 1.5" thick overall. No need to drag the nineties into this. That sort of laptop, lightweight because of quality materials but enough space for cooling is what laptops should be.

lostapathy 8y ago

I don't think anybody truly believes "customers don't care at all" like your example illustrates. But I think it's fair to say customers don't care about the last 2-3mm of thickness that Apple is sacrificing the ability to repair in order to squeeze out.

blattimwind 8y ago
I've heard plenty of complaints from ultrabook owners that they find the "knife point edge" design that many of these have unconfortable to handle. Generally speaking, maxizing a single aspect of a design is rarely a good choice. Making notebooks or smartphones as thin as possible (or pretending to do so, the strategies used here are borderline gaslighting) is not an intrinsic good.
Spooky23 8y ago
The core of the nobody cares argument is that the utility of shrinking the device is incrementally less and the costs incurred are increasing incrementally more.

dethac 8y ago

I think this is a bit of a disingenuous comparison. That ThinkPad looks to be around the mid 1990s (maybe early 2000s?). Meanwhile, if you looked at a modern ThinkPad (regardless of your opinion on Lenovo as a company), the keyboard is still category-leading, the weight is almost identical to a MacBook in the same class, and the thickness likewise. Look at, say, the X1 Extreme. Replaceable RAM and SSD. 4.06 pounds. The MBP 15" is 4.03 pounds. Now, the keyboard definitely isn't as good as it was (RIP old keyboard, may you rest in peace), but it's definitely still very competitive.

robotresearcher 8y ago
We agree. The fact that ThinkPads and MacBooks are both slim today suggests that people want slim laptops, contrary to the claim of the grandparent. That TP 340 I bought in 1994. It was a marvel for its time and much more affordable than the contemporaneous Mac: a more stylish brick like so: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/540c_open.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/540c_ope...
blattimwind 8y ago
That's a Thinkpad 750 from 1993. Either way, arguing against "consumers don't really care about having the thinnest brick on the market" by invoking early 90s hardware by comparison is of course a B/S way of arguing things.
- robotresearcher 8y ago
  I was arguing against "Noone cares about thin laptops." That's a direct quote and different from yours. Not 'thinnest', but 'thin'. Since almost the laptops went thin, someone cared about it.
rhizome 8y ago
Wow, the X1s have come a long way. Possibly the only non-Mac 15" with a tenkeyless right now.
- 8y ago

deleted 8y ago

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