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Thickness generally has a very strong correlation with weight. Weight is probably the single most important factor in a laptop for me. I didn't realize how much

Thickness generally has a very strong correlation with weight. Weight is probably the single most important factor in a laptop for me. I didn't realize how much of a difference it made until I switched to an Air.

jimmaswell 12y ago
I'm dangerously out of shape and carrying around my laptop bag with >10lbs of stuff in it doesn't bother me. Functionality is worth the weight unless you're averse to carrying a few extra pounds I guess.
- paulfurtado 12y ago
  What do you have against external ethernet adapters? I don't see how requiring an external ethernet adapter is a worse trade off than adding extra pounds and size.
  - jimmaswell 12y ago
    An external ethernet dongle is more likely to break or get lost. Wasn't there a push against dongles a while ago? Are they becoming normal again? There's no VGA port either which is a necessity for me. No CD drive either. Is this thing a laptop or a big smartphone with no touch screen? No numpad either, wow.
    - konspence 12y ago
      > An external ethernet dongle is more likely to break or get lost. Sure, but it's replaceable for the cheap cost of ~$10 - 20. > There's no VGA port either which is a necessity for me. 2007 called, they want their already-deprecated video standards back. > No CD drive either. 2000 called, they want their already-deprecated media storage standards back. >Is this thing a laptop or a big smartphone with no touch screen? Clearly a laptop. >No numpad either, wow. Now I'm convinced you're trolling.
      - Larrikin 12y ago
        Personally I think its absolutely ridiculous I paid $3000 for my Mac Book pro and I don't have a numpad with crucial keys like home, end, page up and down because they wanted the the track pad in the center. My old vaio laptop that was the same size fit the numpad just fine. I ended up buying having to buy one just because I was much slower at programming without it.
        callum85 12y ago
        Yes it's ridiculous you paid that much if those features are crucial to you. You're very wrong if you think those features are crucial to everyone. I definitely want the track pad in the middle more than having page up/down etc.
        lucian1900 12y ago
        Cmd + direction keys work just fine.
        jmccree 12y ago
        I think full numpads only make sense on 17" and above. There's no reason not to have home/end/pgup|down though, all of my 15" thinkpads have had that.
        driverdan 12y ago
        Learn OS X's shortcuts and you'll never miss home, end, etc again. They keep your hands closer to the home row which makes them faster to use.
      - callum85 12y ago
        Beautifully said
      - jimmaswell 12y ago
        >Sure, but it's replaceable for the cheap cost of ~$10 - 20. Still inconvenient at least. USB Ethernet dongles also have the possibility of not being able to be used for network booting. >2007 called, they want their already-deprecated video standards back. Make it DVI or whatever you want then. I still need a video output for another monitor. >2000 called, they want their already-deprecated media storage standards back. I use the CD drive for things like DVDs or old PC games. Bluray disks are used now as well. Disks are not dead. >Now I'm convinced you're trolling. I like using the numpad so I must be a troll.
  - michaelt 12y ago
    I just googled 'apple ethernet' and got the UK apple store page for their USB ethernet adaptor[1]. It costs £25 (US$42, so this isn't some cheap junk), and of the twelve reviews, six give it one star and two give it two stars. The point of using ethernet in preference to wifi is to get the dependability of battle-tested 30 year old technology; and using an ethernet dongle deprives you of that. [1] http://store.apple.com/uk/product/MC704ZM/A/apple-usb-ethernet-adapter http://store.apple.com/uk/product/MC704ZM/A/apple-usb-ethern...
    - weiran 12y ago
      The new Thunderbolt version which works like a native port at full gigabit speed.
      - paulfurtado 12y ago
        The USB 3.0 ethernet adapters are also quite good if you're not running OS X (and thus don't have thunderbolt support).
- driverdan 12y ago
  You'd be surprised how noticeable a few pounds are, especially when you travel frequently. I work out and can lift a lot of weight but would (and did) pay extra for a thinner, lighter laptop all other things equal. Thickness can also make a big difference when trying to work in tight spaces (eg an airplane) or packing a carry on bag.
marincounty 12y ago
I've never understood the weight thing. Size--yes, but weight? Weight is suppose to be a huge factor in photography too, but my 74 year old mom totes around a canon 5d coupled to a 100-400mm L lens. She never complains about the weight? At this point, I want a laptop that can take a little abuse, and I can fix.

jimmaswell 12y ago

I'm dangerously out of shape and carrying around my laptop bag with >10lbs of stuff in it doesn't bother me. Functionality is worth the weight unless you're averse to carrying a few extra pounds I guess.

paulfurtado 12y ago
What do you have against external ethernet adapters? I don't see how requiring an external ethernet adapter is a worse trade off than adding extra pounds and size.
- jimmaswell 12y ago
  An external ethernet dongle is more likely to break or get lost. Wasn't there a push against dongles a while ago? Are they becoming normal again? There's no VGA port either which is a necessity for me. No CD drive either. Is this thing a laptop or a big smartphone with no touch screen? No numpad either, wow.
  - konspence 12y ago
    > An external ethernet dongle is more likely to break or get lost. Sure, but it's replaceable for the cheap cost of ~$10 - 20. > There's no VGA port either which is a necessity for me. 2007 called, they want their already-deprecated video standards back. > No CD drive either. 2000 called, they want their already-deprecated media storage standards back. >Is this thing a laptop or a big smartphone with no touch screen? Clearly a laptop. >No numpad either, wow. Now I'm convinced you're trolling.
    - Larrikin 12y ago
      Personally I think its absolutely ridiculous I paid $3000 for my Mac Book pro and I don't have a numpad with crucial keys like home, end, page up and down because they wanted the the track pad in the center. My old vaio laptop that was the same size fit the numpad just fine. I ended up buying having to buy one just because I was much slower at programming without it.
      - callum85 12y ago
        Yes it's ridiculous you paid that much if those features are crucial to you. You're very wrong if you think those features are crucial to everyone. I definitely want the track pad in the middle more than having page up/down etc.
      - lucian1900 12y ago
        Cmd + direction keys work just fine.
      - jmccree 12y ago
        I think full numpads only make sense on 17" and above. There's no reason not to have home/end/pgup|down though, all of my 15" thinkpads have had that.
      - driverdan 12y ago
        Learn OS X's shortcuts and you'll never miss home, end, etc again. They keep your hands closer to the home row which makes them faster to use.
    - callum85 12y ago
      Beautifully said
    - jimmaswell 12y ago
      >Sure, but it's replaceable for the cheap cost of ~$10 - 20. Still inconvenient at least. USB Ethernet dongles also have the possibility of not being able to be used for network booting. >2007 called, they want their already-deprecated video standards back. Make it DVI or whatever you want then. I still need a video output for another monitor. >2000 called, they want their already-deprecated media storage standards back. I use the CD drive for things like DVDs or old PC games. Bluray disks are used now as well. Disks are not dead. >Now I'm convinced you're trolling. I like using the numpad so I must be a troll.
- michaelt 12y ago
  I just googled 'apple ethernet' and got the UK apple store page for their USB ethernet adaptor[1]. It costs £25 (US$42, so this isn't some cheap junk), and of the twelve reviews, six give it one star and two give it two stars. The point of using ethernet in preference to wifi is to get the dependability of battle-tested 30 year old technology; and using an ethernet dongle deprives you of that. [1] http://store.apple.com/uk/product/MC704ZM/A/apple-usb-ethernet-adapter http://store.apple.com/uk/product/MC704ZM/A/apple-usb-ethern...
  - weiran 12y ago
    The new Thunderbolt version which works like a native port at full gigabit speed.
    - paulfurtado 12y ago
      The USB 3.0 ethernet adapters are also quite good if you're not running OS X (and thus don't have thunderbolt support).
driverdan 12y ago
You'd be surprised how noticeable a few pounds are, especially when you travel frequently. I work out and can lift a lot of weight but would (and did) pay extra for a thinner, lighter laptop all other things equal. Thickness can also make a big difference when trying to work in tight spaces (eg an airplane) or packing a carry on bag.

marincounty 12y ago

I've never understood the weight thing. Size--yes, but weight? Weight is suppose to be a huge factor in photography too, but my 74 year old mom totes around a canon 5d coupled to a 100-400mm L lens. She never complains about the weight? At this point, I want a laptop that can take a little abuse, and I can fix.