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> For everyday tasks both at home and at work, we have long had a choice: pull out a heavy brick with a noisy fan, a pixelated display, a few hours of battery l

by mdoms 5y ago

> For everyday tasks both at home and at work, we have long had a choice: pull out a heavy brick with a noisy fan, a pixelated display, a few hours of battery life and a tenuous connection to the internet; or reach for that instant-on, always-connected, app-stuffed supercomputer in our pockets. What? My XPS 13 is not heavy or noisy, certainly doesn't have a pixelated display and my wifi is the same (excellent) whether I'm using my phone or my laptop.

jacobsenscott 5y ago
That's not true for most people. For many people their phone is their most powerful computer, and their cell connection is faster than their home internet. I'm in a suburb just outside denver and my choice for internet is a 1mbp/s dsl line, or pay over $100 a month for 200Mb down/ 1 Mb up, or just use 5g which is more than sufficient for what most people do at 20Mb down / 1Mb up.
- Sebb767 5y ago
  This might be an EU thing, but mobile data is usually highly limited, while home connections are very rarely. Sure, having 200 MBit/s is nicer than 50, but at least you can use it for more than 5 minutes. Also, even with the rather beefy phones released recently, I highly doubt they can outperform an average laptop CPU, let alone a desktop one.
- mindslight 5y ago
  "For most people" highlights the glaringly flawed framework of superficial articles like this. Of course laptop sales are going down - the only reason they were so high is that they used to be the easiest way to get to the Web. Just like desktop PCs were before laptops. Now that the masses have pocket WebTVs, they no longer need to buy laptops. Likewise for Internet connections, as you point out. But people who depend on Internet access will value faster wired access rather than limp along with cell service. Perhaps they'll even move to somewhere with more modern wired service than a paltry 1Mbit.
Sebb767 5y ago
Seconded. Ultrabooks have been around for nearly a decade now and they are light as well as having excellent battery life. I've been using them since 2015 and, combined with a docking station, they're the perfect mobile and home work environment, without any of the drawbacks of a phone (small display, no keyboard, hardly any multitasking, limited storage...). In my university, ultrabooks basically dominated the class room, so it's not only me.
smartbit 5y ago
An XPS 13 with ~4K screen & Windows Pro without Office costs $1650. That is similar to what the Apple top model iPhones costs.

by mdoms 5y ago

jacobsenscott 5y ago

That's not true for most people. For many people their phone is their most powerful computer, and their cell connection is faster than their home internet. I'm in a suburb just outside denver and my choice for internet is a 1mbp/s dsl line, or pay over $100 a month for 200Mb down/ 1 Mb up, or just use 5g which is more than sufficient for what most people do at 20Mb down / 1Mb up.

Sebb767 5y ago
This might be an EU thing, but mobile data is usually highly limited, while home connections are very rarely. Sure, having 200 MBit/s is nicer than 50, but at least you can use it for more than 5 minutes. Also, even with the rather beefy phones released recently, I highly doubt they can outperform an average laptop CPU, let alone a desktop one.
mindslight 5y ago
"For most people" highlights the glaringly flawed framework of superficial articles like this. Of course laptop sales are going down - the only reason they were so high is that they used to be the easiest way to get to the Web. Just like desktop PCs were before laptops. Now that the masses have pocket WebTVs, they no longer need to buy laptops. Likewise for Internet connections, as you point out. But people who depend on Internet access will value faster wired access rather than limp along with cell service. Perhaps they'll even move to somewhere with more modern wired service than a paltry 1Mbit.

Sebb767 5y ago

Seconded. Ultrabooks have been around for nearly a decade now and they are light as well as having excellent battery life. I've been using them since 2015 and, combined with a docking station, they're the perfect mobile and home work environment, without any of the drawbacks of a phone (small display, no keyboard, hardly any multitasking, limited storage...). In my university, ultrabooks basically dominated the class room, so it's not only me.

smartbit 5y ago

An XPS 13 with ~4K screen & Windows Pro without Office costs $1650. That is similar to what the Apple top model iPhones costs.