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If I didn't need to run technical software on a machine administered by someone else I would never touch a PC laptop. I've used many of the nicest PC laptops, using a very high spec XPS with the carbon fiber and the best battery and a 4k screen. It is a piece of crap compared to any modern MacBook.

It looks tacky on the inside. It takes forever to start. It has no sleep setting. Let me repeat that, it will not sleep. If I manually enable hibernation it removes the option after each update. If I close the lid and put it in my bag it overheats so I effectively have to shut down every time I commute. The battery life is clearly inferior to any Mac and I can't get a full days work out of it. This is a $6-7k USD machine.

They are computers you give to people to do work for you, they are not computers you'd want to own.
 
617 said:
If I didn't need to run technical software on a machine administered by someone else I would never touch a PC laptop. I've used many of the nicest PC laptops, using a very high spec XPS with the carbon fiber and the best battery and a 4k screen. It is a piece of crap compared to any modern MacBook.

It looks tacky on the inside. It takes forever to start. It has no sleep setting. Let me repeat that, it will not sleep. If I manually enable hibernation it removes the option after each update. If I close the lid and put it in my bag it overheats so I effectively have to shut down every time I commute. The battery life is clearly inferior to any Mac and I can't get a full days work out of it. This is a $6-7k USD machine.

They are computers you give to people to do work for you, they are not computers you'd want to own.
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Quite simply bull crap.
 
GD Fan said:
It's funny, I have a desktop PC, a laptop, and a mobile phone (S23). The laptop gets almost exactly zero use. On the rare occasions I've had one the laptop has always been an under-utilized tool.

Clearly I'm the outlier.
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You are more alone, I think I only use my laptop to measure with REW.
 
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Ilkless said:
No idea where to put this but I'm laptop shopping.
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With Windows, I try to stick mostly to commonly-used configurations, and for more exotic stuff, like media keys or multicolored keyboard backlighting, I might want to determine whether they were supported at the hardware level or worked with generic Windows drivers. Worst case scenario is where vendor-supplied software is needed, and the feature is so niche that no one bothers to reverse-engineer it or implement it in other OSes like Linux or even the next version of Windows.

4K display in a 15" Windows notebook mostly works, but I do sometime get wee tiny fonts, where the software assumes a certain pixel size. I wonder how well supported features like HDR/Dolby Vision are, as they are still rather unusual in the Windows world.

Was most pleased to discover that the Yoga-type features of my old HP Specture (touch screen, 360-degree hinge) "just worked" with Ubuntu Linux, as did the backlit keyboard, but no surprises with the latter, since it operates at the hardware level.
 
Soniclife said:
That's an IT department issue, not a windows issue, they have messed something up, probably on purpose.
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Not in this case. It is a firmware issue the IT can't solve. They've tried to fix it.

It's a fine machine but I'd never spend my own money on it.
 
617 said:
Not in this case. It is a firmware issue the IT can't solve. They've tried to fix it.

It's a fine machine but I'd never spend my own money on it.
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If it is a firmware issue it still is not a Windows thing. I've not had those problems with Windows laptops. I've put Linux on many of them and sometimes there are hoops to jump through to get sleep/hibernation working though usually you can. All brands can have their issues. I had a Macbook I wanted to replace, but then Apple had the infamous flaky keyboards. I was amazed they handled that so poorly. I didn't buy one of their devices for that reason during those years. Still amazes me they let that issue go on for years.
 
JeffS7444 said:
With Windows, I try to stick mostly to commonly-used configurations, and for more exotic stuff, like media keys or multicolored keyboard backlighting, I might want to determine whether they were supported at the hardware level or worked with generic Windows drivers. Worst case scenario is where vendor-supplied software is needed, and the feature is so niche that no one bothers to reverse-engineer it or implement it in other OSes like Linux or even the next version of Windows.

4K display in a 15" Windows notebook mostly works, but I do sometime get wee tiny fonts, where the software assumes a certain pixel size. I wonder how well supported features like HDR/Dolby Vision are, as they are still rather unusual in the Windows world.

Was most pleased to discover that the Yoga-type features of my old HP Specture (touch screen, 360-degree hinge) "just worked" with Ubuntu Linux, as did the backlit keyboard, but no surprises with the latter, since it operates at the hardware level.
Click to expand...

Used to dabble in Linux to a relatively involved level (Lua UI scripting and so on in Arch Linux) and enjoyed it but not sure where hardware support is now. I wouldn't want to be saddled to previous-gen Intel just so I can go Linux (though I must say my years using lightweight Linux were the most un-preoccupied I was with hardware; I was using stuff like a 1997 Fujitsu well into the 2010s).
 
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Hopefully it'll be cool: I'm awaiting a delivery of an issue of Krugozor (Кругозор "Outlook") which I originally learned of this a number of years ago via Michael Idov's 2010 book Made in Russia: Unsung Icons of Soviet Design. As a kid, I occasionally got to play around with flexi-disks, usually promoting some Time-Life record subscription, or bound into issues of Mad. But I have never before encountered magazines consisting of multiple disks, playable without ripping the things out.

But ironically if I'm not mistaken, the toy depicted on the cover of Idov's book is a clone of a Japanese toy.
 
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ATS200
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Robin L said:
At a musical event where everyone was amplified, I plugged my Washburn C5CE guitar (classical, nylon string with a cutaway and built-in pickup) into a Fishman Loudbox Artist. I then knew I needed a guitar amp, but the Fishman amps were just too expensive, even used. Wandering around on the internets I landed on the Fender Frontman 25r. It checked off enough boxes and could be found for a little over $100, tax and shipping included. It showed up this morning and I couldn't be happier, with the exception that this amp, being solidly built and considerably larger than the Loudbox Artist, is also noticeably heavier. But it is exceptionally clean sonically, has built-in spring reverb and tone controls for treble, midrange and bass. Also, this turned out to be an exceptionally clean looking amp:

View attachment 424926
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Exceptional value at $100. Was that used? Looks like it's discontinued and Fender doesn't currently have a low cost 1x10.

A real spring that you can bang around?
 
617 said:
If I didn't need to run technical software on a machine administered by someone else I would never touch a PC laptop. I've used many of the nicest PC laptops, using a very high spec XPS with the carbon fiber and the best battery and a 4k screen. It is a piece of crap compared to any modern MacBook.

It looks tacky on the inside. It takes forever to start. It has no sleep setting. Let me repeat that, it will not sleep. If I manually enable hibernation it removes the option after each update. If I close the lid and put it in my bag it overheats so I effectively have to shut down every time I commute. The battery life is clearly inferior to any Mac and I can't get a full days work out of it. This is a $6-7k USD machine.

They are computers you give to people to do work for you, they are not computers you'd want to own.
Click to expand...
I remember back when I was still enjoying office life how people would walk around to and from meetings holding their laptops open in front of them in one hand with the power brick and cables in the other.

So they still haven't fixed that, huh?
 
Multicore said:
I remember back when I was still enjoying office life how people would walk around to and from meetings holding their laptops open in front of them in one hand with the power brick and cables in the other.

So they still haven't fixed that, huh?
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They've gotten better but they're still a decade behind. It's pretty laughable. I saw a video comparing my machine to a MacBook of comparable cost for video rendering. They were just as fast! But the MacBook did it without being plugged in.

Oh did I mention fan noise? Do MacBooks even have fans anymore? Maybe the pro? My $$$ xps does, they sound horrible.

I will say the power adapters have gotten lighter. So that's a positive.
 
Multicore said:
Exceptional value at $100. Was that used? Looks like it's discontinued and Fender doesn't currently have a low cost 1x10.

A real spring that you can bang around?
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Used but still with its box and in new condition. Yes, that's a real spring reverb. My understanding is that it can be considerably upgraded with a new driver, though that would cost as much as I paid for the amp.
 
617 said:
Oh did I mention fan noise? Do MacBooks even have fans anymore? Maybe the pro? My $$$ xps does, they sound horrible.
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My wife's MacBook Air is the last of the Intels and it makes a nasty fan noise when using Zoom and other apps slow down. She has a 4k second display attached.

I haven't tried Zoom on my M1 Air. I use my Windows desktop for that.

617 said:
I will say the power adapters have gotten lighter. So that's a positive.
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I was looking for a replacement on Amazon and read some of the user reviews. There were a few saying how after market units under sustained full load they get scary hot and turn off. Reminded me of some of the power amp debates here. So it may be best to stick with the Apple adapters despite the high price.
 
Multicore said:
My wife's MacBook Air is the last of the Intels and it makes a nasty fan noise when using Zoom and other apps slow down. She has a 4k second display attached.

I haven't tried Zoom on my M1 Air. I use my Windows desktop for that.


I was looking for a replacement on Amazon and read some of the user reviews. There were a few saying how after market units under sustained full load they get scary hot and turn off. Reminded me of some of the power amp debates here. So it may be best to stick with the Apple adapters despite the high price.
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I have the last version of the Macbook Pro with Intel inside. The MACOS is pretty hefty apparently. It doesn't get that kind of fan noise on zoom, but probably is a bit more powerful than the Air. It is not super speedy feeling. The M series are far better, but it could be the OS being for ARM is a drag on the Intel with the newer versions of MacOS. OTOH, I have an old 2014 Macbook Pro I put Linux on. It feels snappier than that much more powerful 2020 Intel running MacOS. I'm using KDE so it isn't a lightweight desktop. I suspect the 2020 won't get the new OS later this year. I can Linux it when that happens.
 
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