Why are laptops so bling these days?

[GQgeek]

Vaio's are pretty sleek. How do you find working at that resolution on such a small screen?I wish I could see what it is like in person, but at futureshop, nothing had more than 1280x800 or something ridiculously small...

 

[otc]

I think that in most cases, SSDs are a waste of money.
Modern laptop drives are very durable and respond well to being dropped and jolted...you are likely to break something else first (like the LCD) before the HDD goes.

For the price of an SSD upgrade you coul get a larger HDD *and* a backup or two to replace the drive if it should somehow fail.

 

[AnGeLiCbOrIs]

Originally Posted by GQgeek

Vaio's are pretty sleek. How do you find working at that resolution on such a small screen?I wish I could see what it is like in person, but at futureshop, nothing had more than 1280x800 or something ridiculously small...

I find it great but I've heard of people with poor vision who find the text too small.

 

[B1FF]

Originally Posted by otc

I think that in most cases, SSDs are a waste of money.

My Intel SSD RAID laughs at you.

 

[tiecollector]

I'm still shocked at how after all these years, Macs are still the only laptops that don't look cheap. My thinkpad is pretty sturdy, but it pales in comparison to my powerbook.

And, as someone already said, people have no taste, and stuff needs to sell. However, the designers should still know better, because ultimately people will buy whatever is available regardless.

 

[GQgeek]

Originally Posted by otc

I think that in most cases, SSDs are a waste of money.
Modern laptop drives are very durable and respond well to being dropped and jolted...you are likely to break something else first (like the LCD) before the HDD goes.

For the price of an SSD upgrade you coul get a larger HDD *and* a backup or two to replace the drive if it should somehow fail.

SSDs aren't really about durability. They offer much better performance, longer battery life, and produce way less heat.

 

[v0rtex]

Originally Posted by Roikins

They're bling these days because a company decided that computers should no longer be appliances you use to only accomplish tasks, but they should also be your best friend and a fashion accessory

Interesting point.

The lifecycle of products starts out with prototypes and early adopters - home built and rigged together with tape (Altair, Apple II, steam powered cars). After that, the industry matures and the products are plain but functional (IBM XT, Classic Mac, Ford Model T). Finally, the product becomes optimized and commoditized to the extent that the only changes that can be made are cosmetic and fashion-oriented (Intel-based Macs, "your personal" colored Dell, Hummers built on Chevy SUV chassis'). Finally, the product falls into self parody and obsolescence.

It's interesting that these lifecycles seem to be speeding up and computing devices have entered the fashion stage after only 20-25 years, but it explains why computers are all blingy these days.

Originally Posted by tiecollector

I'm still shocked at how after all these years, Macs are still the only laptops that don't look cheap.

If I spent twice as much on something I'd expect it to look expensive too. Also, they're the only laptop brand that isn't producing commodity products. A luxury PC is like McDonalds offering five star table service - it's the same generic product in a fancy wrapper and thus fails in the marketplace.

 

[dfagdfsh]

I don't understand 15"+ laptops with huge resolutions... they become so heavy it almsot defeats the purpose. That said, I like the aesthetic design of the new Macbook I just got.

 

[thekunk07]

if any of you think the only reason for a mac is design, you're kidding yourselves. join the 21st century, will you?

 

[hamish5178]

Originally Posted by thekunk07

if any of you think the only reason for a mac is design, you're kidding yourselves. join the 21st century, will you?

I'm pretty sure no one said anything like that in this thread. . .

 

[thekunk07]

i just don;t understand why anyone would have a pc for personal use.

 

[GQgeek]

Originally Posted by thekunk07

i just don;t understand why anyone would have a pc for personal use.

That's because you're a simpleton mac user.

 

[Roikins]

Originally Posted by thekunk07

if any of you think the only reason for a mac is design, you're kidding yourselves. join the 21st century, will you?


Heh, or the 20th century if you're a computer company that just decided to start using CISC instead of RISC.

 

[KenN]

Originally Posted by thekunk07

i just don;t understand why anyone would have a pc for personal use.

So they can:
- Play computer games
- Try different operating systems
- Upgrade their hardware ...

 

[A Y]

Originally Posted by Roikins

Heh, or the 20th century if you're a computer company that just decided to start using CISC instead of RISC.

Except for the fact that RISC vs. CISC is a false dichotomy.

--Andre