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Ultrabook portables

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  Ultrabook portables "Ezekiel" <zeke@nosuchemail.com> - 2015-11-09 11:22 -0500
    Re: Ultrabook portables John Gohde <john.h.gohde@gmail.com> - 2015-11-09 08:40 -0800
    Re: Ultrabook portables Big Fish in a Small Crotch <bigfishinasmallcrotch@myself.com> - 2015-11-09 11:59 -0500
      Re: Ultrabook portables "Ezekiel" <zeke@nosuchemail.com> - 2015-11-09 12:10 -0500
        Re: Ultrabook portables Lloyd Parsons <lloydp211@gmail.com> - 2015-11-09 19:52 +0000
          Re: Ultrabook portables "Ezekiel" <zeke@nosuchemail.com> - 2015-11-09 15:11 -0500
            Re: Ultrabook portables Lloyd Parsons <lloydp211@gmail.com> - 2015-11-09 20:15 +0000
          Re: Ultrabook portables Slimer <.m@nsn.s> - 2015-11-09 16:48 -0500
    Re: Ultrabook portables Lloyd Parsons <lloydp211@gmail.com> - 2015-11-09 17:10 +0000
      Re: Ultrabook portables "Ezekiel" <zeke@nosuchemail.com> - 2015-11-09 12:14 -0500

#331893 — Ultrabook portables

So I decided to upgrade my aging laptop. It's an older Acer i5 that's pretty 
big and weights about 6 lbs. I have a full desktop and plenty of CPU+storage 
on the network so I don't need a really powerful machine. Decided to go with 
something light and portable.

Factors were:
  Size and portability - Extremely important
  SSD drive - Must have
  Battery life - important
  DVD-Drive - Do not want at all
  High res display - very nice to have
  Touch screen - nice to have
  Gaming - N/A
  100% silent (no CPU fan) - nice to have

I looked around and decided to go with a Macbook. Not a Macbook Air and not 
a Macbook Pro, but the small 2lb Macbook like this one : 
https://www.apple.com/macbook/

It only weighs 2 lbs and is about a 1/2" thick. Not entirely sure but it 
might be the smallest/lightest ultrabook available. The display is 2304x1440 
and the battery last 7+ hours in real life usage. The only other laptop that 
I considered seriously was the Dell XPS-13 which was a close 2nd.


What I like:

The Touchpad is the best I've ever used. Period. it's as smooth as glass 
because it is glass. It has the force-touch which is very cool. When you 
press hard (adjustable) it actually feels like the touchpad "clicks' down. 
But it doesn't move or click at all. it just feels like it does. Try it out 
if you can get your hands on one from a friend or at an Apple Store. You'll 
be absolutely convinced that it clicks down even though it doesn't move at 
all. (The amount of "click" feedback is also adjustable.) Fantastic touchpad 
in every way.

The screen is excellent and the battery life easily gives me a full day of 
usage. The 802.11ac wireless is way faster than the Acer's 802.11g and the 
backlit keyboard is also something the Acer didn't have. There's no CPU fan 
and it has an SSD so it's always 100% silent.

All the hardware works perfectly. Open or close the lid and it does the 
right thing. The power button works and I spent exactly zero time messing 
with acpid or apcupsd. It works the way it's supposed to right out of the 
box.

The hardware, build quality and fit-and-finish is top notch. It looks and 
feels like a well build device.


What I don't like:

No Mag-Safe connector. The Macbook Air that my wife stole from me 2 years 
ago has one but this Macbook is so thin that there wasn't room for one. So 
it charges with a USB-C connector but I would prefer a Mag-Safe.

Since there's no room for Mag-Safe give it a lightening connector which is 
pretty ubiquitous for people with other iDevices. I don't want yet another 
different cable with a USB-C connector.

Not easy to open the lid. Maybe my hands are too big but it takes a fine 
touch to open the skinny little thing.


The Apple eco-system or walled garden:

Say what you want about this but it "just works" and works incredibly well 
and easy. When I powered it up and set it up for the first time it asked me 
to sign-in with my Apple-ID. Done. Finished. Nothing else to setup, 
configure, edit, whatever.

Once I signed in with my Apple ID my email, calendar, contacts, 
text-messages, photos, documents, shared-photos, todo-list, music and 
everything else was synced with my iPhone. I didn't need to configure a 
half-dozen apps individually. Everything that I need to stay in sync and 
share across devices was done.

Maybe I don't get some fine level of control that 1% of users might need. 
But 99% of users won't care because "stuff" they otherwise would never be 
able to setup on their own "just works" with very little to no effort.

[toc] | [next] | [standalone]

#331896

On Monday, November 9, 2015 at 11:22:22 AM UTC-5, Ezekiel wrote:
> So I decided to upgrade my aging laptop. It's an older Acer i5 that's pretty 
> big and weights about 6 lbs. I have a full desktop and plenty of CPU+storage 
> on the network so I don't need a really powerful machine. Decided to go with 
> something light and portable.
> 
> Factors were:
>   Size and portability - Extremely important
>   SSD drive - Must have
>   Battery life - important
>   DVD-Drive - Do not want at all
>   High res display - very nice to have
>   Touch screen - nice to have
>   Gaming - N/A
>   100% silent (no CPU fan) - nice to have
> 
> I looked around and decided to go with a Macbook. Not a Macbook Air and not 
> a Macbook Pro, but the small 2lb Macbook like this one : 
> https://www.apple.com/macbook/
> 
> It only weighs 2 lbs and is about a 1/2" thick. Not entirely sure but it 
> might be the smallest/lightest ultrabook available. The display is 2304x1440 
> and the battery last 7+ hours in real life usage. The only other laptop that 
> I considered seriously was the Dell XPS-13 which was a close 2nd.
> 
> 
> What I like:
> 
> The Touchpad is the best I've ever used. Period. it's as smooth as glass 
> because it is glass. It has the force-touch which is very cool. When you 
> press hard (adjustable) it actually feels like the touchpad "clicks' down. 
> But it doesn't move or click at all. it just feels like it does. Try it out 
> if you can get your hands on one from a friend or at an Apple Store. You'll 
> be absolutely convinced that it clicks down even though it doesn't move at 
> all. (The amount of "click" feedback is also adjustable.) Fantastic touchpad 
> in every way.
> 
> The screen is excellent and the battery life easily gives me a full day of 
> usage. The 802.11ac wireless is way faster than the Acer's 802.11g and the 
> backlit keyboard is also something the Acer didn't have. There's no CPU fan 
> and it has an SSD so it's always 100% silent.
> 
> All the hardware works perfectly. Open or close the lid and it does the 
> right thing. The power button works and I spent exactly zero time messing 
> with acpid or apcupsd. It works the way it's supposed to right out of the 
> box.
> 
> The hardware, build quality and fit-and-finish is top notch. It looks and 
> feels like a well build device.
> 
> 
> What I don't like:
> 
> No Mag-Safe connector. The Macbook Air that my wife stole from me 2 years 
> ago has one but this Macbook is so thin that there wasn't room for one. So 
> it charges with a USB-C connector but I would prefer a Mag-Safe.
> 
> Since there's no room for Mag-Safe give it a lightening connector which is 
> pretty ubiquitous for people with other iDevices. I don't want yet another 
> different cable with a USB-C connector.
> 
> Not easy to open the lid. Maybe my hands are too big but it takes a fine 
> touch to open the skinny little thing.
> 
> 
> The Apple eco-system or walled garden:
> 
> Say what you want about this but it "just works" and works incredibly well 
> and easy. When I powered it up and set it up for the first time it asked me 
> to sign-in with my Apple-ID. Done. Finished. Nothing else to setup, 
> configure, edit, whatever.
> 
> Once I signed in with my Apple ID my email, calendar, contacts, 
> text-messages, photos, documents, shared-photos, todo-list, music and 
> everything else was synced with my iPhone. I didn't need to configure a 
> half-dozen apps individually. Everything that I need to stay in sync and 
> share across devices was done.
> 
> Maybe I don't get some fine level of control that 1% of users might need. 
> But 99% of users won't care because "stuff" they otherwise would never be 
> able to setup on their own "just works" with very little to no effort.



Now, if Ezekiel ONLY had a life?

Moi is going to venture outside, to try to figure out what the hell is going on: Rain, Drizzle, or nothing.  Just plain weird weather.

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#331897

On Mon, 9 Nov 2015 11:22:22 -0500, Ezekiel wrote:

> So I decided to upgrade my aging laptop. It's an older Acer i5 that's pretty 
> big and weights about 6 lbs. I have a full desktop and plenty of CPU+storage 
> on the network so I don't need a really powerful machine. Decided to go with 
> something light and portable.
> 
> Factors were:
>   Size and portability - Extremely important
>   SSD drive - Must have
>   Battery life - important
>   DVD-Drive - Do not want at all
>   High res display - very nice to have
>   Touch screen - nice to have
>   Gaming - N/A
>   100% silent (no CPU fan) - nice to have
> 
> I looked around and decided to go with a Macbook. Not a Macbook Air and not 
> a Macbook Pro, but the small 2lb Macbook like this one : 
> https://www.apple.com/macbook/
> 
> It only weighs 2 lbs and is about a 1/2" thick. Not entirely sure but it 
> might be the smallest/lightest ultrabook available. The display is 2304x1440 
> and the battery last 7+ hours in real life usage. The only other laptop that 
> I considered seriously was the Dell XPS-13 which was a close 2nd.
> 
> 
> What I like:
> 
> The Touchpad is the best I've ever used. Period. it's as smooth as glass 
> because it is glass. It has the force-touch which is very cool. When you 
> press hard (adjustable) it actually feels like the touchpad "clicks' down. 
> But it doesn't move or click at all. it just feels like it does. Try it out 
> if you can get your hands on one from a friend or at an Apple Store. You'll 
> be absolutely convinced that it clicks down even though it doesn't move at 
> all. (The amount of "click" feedback is also adjustable.) Fantastic touchpad 
> in every way.
> 
> The screen is excellent and the battery life easily gives me a full day of 
> usage. The 802.11ac wireless is way faster than the Acer's 802.11g and the 
> backlit keyboard is also something the Acer didn't have. There's no CPU fan 
> and it has an SSD so it's always 100% silent.
> 
> All the hardware works perfectly. Open or close the lid and it does the 
> right thing. The power button works and I spent exactly zero time messing 
> with acpid or apcupsd. It works the way it's supposed to right out of the 
> box.
> 
> The hardware, build quality and fit-and-finish is top notch. It looks and 
> feels like a well build device.
> 
> 
> What I don't like:
> 
> No Mag-Safe connector. The Macbook Air that my wife stole from me 2 years 
> ago has one but this Macbook is so thin that there wasn't room for one. So 
> it charges with a USB-C connector but I would prefer a Mag-Safe.
> 
> Since there's no room for Mag-Safe give it a lightening connector which is 
> pretty ubiquitous for people with other iDevices. I don't want yet another 
> different cable with a USB-C connector.
> 
> Not easy to open the lid. Maybe my hands are too big but it takes a fine 
> touch to open the skinny little thing.
> 
> 
> The Apple eco-system or walled garden:
> 
> Say what you want about this but it "just works" and works incredibly well 
> and easy. When I powered it up and set it up for the first time it asked me 
> to sign-in with my Apple-ID. Done. Finished. Nothing else to setup, 
> configure, edit, whatever.
> 
> Once I signed in with my Apple ID my email, calendar, contacts, 
> text-messages, photos, documents, shared-photos, todo-list, music and 
> everything else was synced with my iPhone. I didn't need to configure a 
> half-dozen apps individually. Everything that I need to stay in sync and 
> share across devices was done.
> 
> Maybe I don't get some fine level of control that 1% of users might need. 
> But 99% of users won't care because "stuff" they otherwise would never be 
> able to setup on their own "just works" with very little to no effort.

That's the thing about Apple. It just works and you don't have to mess with
it.
Of course you have to accept the Apple way of doing things but it works so
well most people don't even care.
All my kids you Apple Mac machines of various types and they never bother
with the OS at all. Everything backs up to the cloud and is synced across
their various devices.

About the only complaint I have heard is when a new version of iOS comes
out and they have so many pictures and apps on their phone there isn't
enough room to install the update.
Easily remedied though.

Compare this to Linux.
Linux is a freaking disaster when it comes to user friendliness.
There is a thread over in alt.os.linux.ubuntu where some poor sap is asking
how to sync his phone with Linux via wifi or BT. You have to read the
replies from these Linux loons. It's literally hysterical.

That thread is *the* poster child for not using Linux.

-- 
You Ain't The Biggest Fish In The Crotch.

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#331901

"Big Fish in a Small Crotch" <bigfishinasmallcrotch@myself.com> wrote in 
message news:1xihng4k8f0sc.1aix5jvbn4ota$.dlg@40tude.net...
> On Mon, 9 Nov 2015 11:22:22 -0500, Ezekiel wrote:
>
>> So I decided to upgrade my aging laptop. It's an older Acer i5 that's 
>> pretty
>> big and weights about 6 lbs. I have a full desktop and plenty of 
>> CPU+storage
>> on the network so I don't need a really powerful machine. Decided to go 
>> with
>> something light and portable.
>>
>> Factors were:
>>   Size and portability - Extremely important
>>   SSD drive - Must have
>>   Battery life - important
>>   DVD-Drive - Do not want at all
>>   High res display - very nice to have
>>   Touch screen - nice to have
>>   Gaming - N/A
>>   100% silent (no CPU fan) - nice to have
>>
>> I looked around and decided to go with a Macbook. Not a Macbook Air and 
>> not
>> a Macbook Pro, but the small 2lb Macbook like this one :
>> https://www.apple.com/macbook/
>>
>> It only weighs 2 lbs and is about a 1/2" thick. Not entirely sure but it
>> might be the smallest/lightest ultrabook available. The display is 
>> 2304x1440
>> and the battery last 7+ hours in real life usage. The only other laptop 
>> that
>> I considered seriously was the Dell XPS-13 which was a close 2nd.
>>
>>
>> What I like:
>>
>> The Touchpad is the best I've ever used. Period. it's as smooth as glass
>> because it is glass. It has the force-touch which is very cool. When you
>> press hard (adjustable) it actually feels like the touchpad "clicks' 
>> down.
>> But it doesn't move or click at all. it just feels like it does. Try it 
>> out
>> if you can get your hands on one from a friend or at an Apple Store. 
>> You'll
>> be absolutely convinced that it clicks down even though it doesn't move 
>> at
>> all. (The amount of "click" feedback is also adjustable.) Fantastic 
>> touchpad
>> in every way.
>>
>> The screen is excellent and the battery life easily gives me a full day 
>> of
>> usage. The 802.11ac wireless is way faster than the Acer's 802.11g and 
>> the
>> backlit keyboard is also something the Acer didn't have. There's no CPU 
>> fan
>> and it has an SSD so it's always 100% silent.
>>
>> All the hardware works perfectly. Open or close the lid and it does the
>> right thing. The power button works and I spent exactly zero time messing
>> with acpid or apcupsd. It works the way it's supposed to right out of the
>> box.
>>
>> The hardware, build quality and fit-and-finish is top notch. It looks and
>> feels like a well build device.
>>
>>
>> What I don't like:
>>
>> No Mag-Safe connector. The Macbook Air that my wife stole from me 2 years
>> ago has one but this Macbook is so thin that there wasn't room for one. 
>> So
>> it charges with a USB-C connector but I would prefer a Mag-Safe.
>>
>> Since there's no room for Mag-Safe give it a lightening connector which 
>> is
>> pretty ubiquitous for people with other iDevices. I don't want yet 
>> another
>> different cable with a USB-C connector.
>>
>> Not easy to open the lid. Maybe my hands are too big but it takes a fine
>> touch to open the skinny little thing.
>>
>>
>> The Apple eco-system or walled garden:
>>
>> Say what you want about this but it "just works" and works incredibly 
>> well
>> and easy. When I powered it up and set it up for the first time it asked 
>> me
>> to sign-in with my Apple-ID. Done. Finished. Nothing else to setup,
>> configure, edit, whatever.
>>
>> Once I signed in with my Apple ID my email, calendar, contacts,
>> text-messages, photos, documents, shared-photos, todo-list, music and
>> everything else was synced with my iPhone. I didn't need to configure a
>> half-dozen apps individually. Everything that I need to stay in sync and
>> share across devices was done.
>>
>> Maybe I don't get some fine level of control that 1% of users might need.
>> But 99% of users won't care because "stuff" they otherwise would never be
>> able to setup on their own "just works" with very little to no effort.
>
> That's the thing about Apple. It just works and you don't have to mess 
> with
> it.
> Of course you have to accept the Apple way of doing things but it works so
> well most people don't even care.
> All my kids you Apple Mac machines of various types and they never bother
> with the OS at all. Everything backs up to the cloud and is synced across
> their various devices.
>

Someone could "roll their own" solution and get something like this working 
for just about any app and device. But in most cases it's going to require a 
level of technical knowledge that most people don't have.

With Apple it's a 1-stop (and 1-step) solution if you use their apps. Their 
apps being mail, contacts, calendar, etc. It's all stored in their cloud 
with your Apple-ID so when you setup a new device you simply login and all 
of this is taken care of for you.


> About the only complaint I have heard is when a new version of iOS comes
> out and they have so many pictures and apps on their phone there isn't
> enough room to install the update.
> Easily remedied though.

There's basically nothing that any product can do when there's 500-megs of 
free space left and you need to download a 600-meg software update. The 
solution is to not do the update over-the-air and to plug the device into 
iTunes. The update will temporarily move some data from the phone/tablet to 
the laptop, install the update and then move the data back. Short of trying 
to compress data locally to make more room, there's not much chance of 
getting around the low disk space.

> Compare this to Linux.
> Linux is a freaking disaster when it comes to user friendliness.
> There is a thread over in alt.os.linux.ubuntu where some poor sap is 
> asking
> how to sync his phone with Linux via wifi or BT. You have to read the
> replies from these Linux loons. It's literally hysterical.
>
> That thread is *the* poster child for not using Linux.

I've never tried this on Linux. On Windows it's up to the app as to how 
"friendly" it is to syncing with external data. I've managed to get things 
working for the most part but it took some time and some tweaking. But with 
the Macbook it just works without having to do much more than just logging 
in with your Apple-ID. It gets all your settings/preferences from their 
cloud and sets up you desktop apps to work. Very nicely done.

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#331939

On Mon, 09 Nov 2015 12:10:58 -0500, Ezekiel wrote:

> "Big Fish in a Small Crotch" <bigfishinasmallcrotch@myself.com> wrote in
> message news:1xihng4k8f0sc.1aix5jvbn4ota$.dlg@40tude.net...
>> On Mon, 9 Nov 2015 11:22:22 -0500, Ezekiel wrote:
>>
>>> So I decided to upgrade my aging laptop. It's an older Acer i5 that's
>>> pretty big and weights about 6 lbs. I have a full desktop and plenty
>>> of CPU+storage on the network so I don't need a really powerful
>>> machine. Decided to go with something light and portable.
>>>
>>> Factors were:
>>>   Size and portability - Extremely important SSD drive - Must have
>>>   Battery life - important DVD-Drive - Do not want at all High res
>>>   display - very nice to have Touch screen - nice to have Gaming - N/A
>>>   100% silent (no CPU fan) - nice to have
>>>
>>> I looked around and decided to go with a Macbook. Not a Macbook Air
>>> and not a Macbook Pro, but the small 2lb Macbook like this one :
>>> https://www.apple.com/macbook/
>>>
>>> It only weighs 2 lbs and is about a 1/2" thick. Not entirely sure but
>>> it might be the smallest/lightest ultrabook available. The display is
>>> 2304x1440 and the battery last 7+ hours in real life usage. The only
>>> other laptop that I considered seriously was the Dell XPS-13 which was
>>> a close 2nd.
>>>
>>>
>>> What I like:
>>>
>>> The Touchpad is the best I've ever used. Period. it's as smooth as
>>> glass because it is glass. It has the force-touch which is very cool.
>>> When you press hard (adjustable) it actually feels like the touchpad
>>> "clicks' down.
>>> But it doesn't move or click at all. it just feels like it does. Try
>>> it out if you can get your hands on one from a friend or at an Apple
>>> Store. You'll be absolutely convinced that it clicks down even though
>>> it doesn't move at all. (The amount of "click" feedback is also
>>> adjustable.) Fantastic touchpad in every way.
>>>
>>> The screen is excellent and the battery life easily gives me a full
>>> day of usage. The 802.11ac wireless is way faster than the Acer's
>>> 802.11g and the backlit keyboard is also something the Acer didn't
>>> have. There's no CPU fan and it has an SSD so it's always 100% silent.
>>>
>>> All the hardware works perfectly. Open or close the lid and it does
>>> the right thing. The power button works and I spent exactly zero time
>>> messing with acpid or apcupsd. It works the way it's supposed to right
>>> out of the box.
>>>
>>> The hardware, build quality and fit-and-finish is top notch. It looks
>>> and feels like a well build device.
>>>
>>>
>>> What I don't like:
>>>
>>> No Mag-Safe connector. The Macbook Air that my wife stole from me 2
>>> years ago has one but this Macbook is so thin that there wasn't room
>>> for one. So it charges with a USB-C connector but I would prefer a
>>> Mag-Safe.
>>>
>>> Since there's no room for Mag-Safe give it a lightening connector
>>> which is pretty ubiquitous for people with other iDevices. I don't
>>> want yet another different cable with a USB-C connector.
>>>
>>> Not easy to open the lid. Maybe my hands are too big but it takes a
>>> fine touch to open the skinny little thing.
>>>
>>>
>>> The Apple eco-system or walled garden:
>>>
>>> Say what you want about this but it "just works" and works incredibly
>>> well and easy. When I powered it up and set it up for the first time
>>> it asked me to sign-in with my Apple-ID. Done. Finished. Nothing else
>>> to setup, configure, edit, whatever.
>>>
>>> Once I signed in with my Apple ID my email, calendar, contacts,
>>> text-messages, photos, documents, shared-photos, todo-list, music and
>>> everything else was synced with my iPhone. I didn't need to configure
>>> a half-dozen apps individually. Everything that I need to stay in sync
>>> and share across devices was done.
>>>
>>> Maybe I don't get some fine level of control that 1% of users might
>>> need.
>>> But 99% of users won't care because "stuff" they otherwise would never
>>> be able to setup on their own "just works" with very little to no
>>> effort.
>>
>> That's the thing about Apple. It just works and you don't have to mess
>> with it.
>> Of course you have to accept the Apple way of doing things but it works
>> so well most people don't even care.
>> All my kids you Apple Mac machines of various types and they never
>> bother with the OS at all. Everything backs up to the cloud and is
>> synced across their various devices.
>>
>>
> Someone could "roll their own" solution and get something like this
> working for just about any app and device. But in most cases it's going
> to require a level of technical knowledge that most people don't have.
> 
> With Apple it's a 1-stop (and 1-step) solution if you use their apps.
> Their apps being mail, contacts, calendar, etc. It's all stored in their
> cloud with your Apple-ID so when you setup a new device you simply login
> and all of this is taken care of for you.
> 
> 
>> About the only complaint I have heard is when a new version of iOS
>> comes out and they have so many pictures and apps on their phone there
>> isn't enough room to install the update.
>> Easily remedied though.
> 
> There's basically nothing that any product can do when there's 500-megs
> of free space left and you need to download a 600-meg software update.
> The solution is to not do the update over-the-air and to plug the device
> into iTunes. The update will temporarily move some data from the
> phone/tablet to the laptop, install the update and then move the data
> back. Short of trying to compress data locally to make more room,
> there's not much chance of getting around the low disk space.
> 
>> Compare this to Linux.
>> Linux is a freaking disaster when it comes to user friendliness.
>> There is a thread over in alt.os.linux.ubuntu where some poor sap is
>> asking how to sync his phone with Linux via wifi or BT. You have to
>> read the replies from these Linux loons. It's literally hysterical.
>>
>> That thread is *the* poster child for not using Linux.
> 
> I've never tried this on Linux. On Windows it's up to the app as to how
> "friendly" it is to syncing with external data. I've managed to get
> things working for the most part but it took some time and some
> tweaking. But with the Macbook it just works without having to do much
> more than just logging in with your Apple-ID. It gets all your
> settings/preferences from their cloud and sets up you desktop apps to
> work. Very nicely done.

Windows 8/8.1/10 do something quite similar though not quite as complete.




-- 
Lloyd

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#331956

"Lloyd Parsons" <lloydp211@gmail.com> wrote in message 
news:dacbsdFsfevU1@mid.individual.net...
> On Mon, 09 Nov 2015 12:10:58 -0500, Ezekiel wrote:
>
>> "Big Fish in a Small Crotch" <bigfishinasmallcrotch@myself.com> wrote in
>> message news:1xihng4k8f0sc.1aix5jvbn4ota$.dlg@40tude.net...
>>> On Mon, 9 Nov 2015 11:22:22 -0500, Ezekiel wrote:
>>>
>>>> So I decided to upgrade my aging laptop. It's an older Acer i5 that's
>>>> pretty big and weights about 6 lbs. I have a full desktop and plenty
>>>> of CPU+storage on the network so I don't need a really powerful
>>>> machine. Decided to go with something light and portable.
>>>>
>>>> Factors were:
>>>>   Size and portability - Extremely important SSD drive - Must have
>>>>   Battery life - important DVD-Drive - Do not want at all High res
>>>>   display - very nice to have Touch screen - nice to have Gaming - N/A
>>>>   100% silent (no CPU fan) - nice to have
>>>>
>>>> I looked around and decided to go with a Macbook. Not a Macbook Air
>>>> and not a Macbook Pro, but the small 2lb Macbook like this one :
>>>> https://www.apple.com/macbook/
>>>>
>>>> It only weighs 2 lbs and is about a 1/2" thick. Not entirely sure but
>>>> it might be the smallest/lightest ultrabook available. The display is
>>>> 2304x1440 and the battery last 7+ hours in real life usage. The only
>>>> other laptop that I considered seriously was the Dell XPS-13 which was
>>>> a close 2nd.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> What I like:
>>>>
>>>> The Touchpad is the best I've ever used. Period. it's as smooth as
>>>> glass because it is glass. It has the force-touch which is very cool.
>>>> When you press hard (adjustable) it actually feels like the touchpad
>>>> "clicks' down.
>>>> But it doesn't move or click at all. it just feels like it does. Try
>>>> it out if you can get your hands on one from a friend or at an Apple
>>>> Store. You'll be absolutely convinced that it clicks down even though
>>>> it doesn't move at all. (The amount of "click" feedback is also
>>>> adjustable.) Fantastic touchpad in every way.
>>>>
>>>> The screen is excellent and the battery life easily gives me a full
>>>> day of usage. The 802.11ac wireless is way faster than the Acer's
>>>> 802.11g and the backlit keyboard is also something the Acer didn't
>>>> have. There's no CPU fan and it has an SSD so it's always 100% silent.
>>>>
>>>> All the hardware works perfectly. Open or close the lid and it does
>>>> the right thing. The power button works and I spent exactly zero time
>>>> messing with acpid or apcupsd. It works the way it's supposed to right
>>>> out of the box.
>>>>
>>>> The hardware, build quality and fit-and-finish is top notch. It looks
>>>> and feels like a well build device.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> What I don't like:
>>>>
>>>> No Mag-Safe connector. The Macbook Air that my wife stole from me 2
>>>> years ago has one but this Macbook is so thin that there wasn't room
>>>> for one. So it charges with a USB-C connector but I would prefer a
>>>> Mag-Safe.
>>>>
>>>> Since there's no room for Mag-Safe give it a lightening connector
>>>> which is pretty ubiquitous for people with other iDevices. I don't
>>>> want yet another different cable with a USB-C connector.
>>>>
>>>> Not easy to open the lid. Maybe my hands are too big but it takes a
>>>> fine touch to open the skinny little thing.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> The Apple eco-system or walled garden:
>>>>
>>>> Say what you want about this but it "just works" and works incredibly
>>>> well and easy. When I powered it up and set it up for the first time
>>>> it asked me to sign-in with my Apple-ID. Done. Finished. Nothing else
>>>> to setup, configure, edit, whatever.
>>>>
>>>> Once I signed in with my Apple ID my email, calendar, contacts,
>>>> text-messages, photos, documents, shared-photos, todo-list, music and
>>>> everything else was synced with my iPhone. I didn't need to configure
>>>> a half-dozen apps individually. Everything that I need to stay in sync
>>>> and share across devices was done.
>>>>
>>>> Maybe I don't get some fine level of control that 1% of users might
>>>> need.
>>>> But 99% of users won't care because "stuff" they otherwise would never
>>>> be able to setup on their own "just works" with very little to no
>>>> effort.
>>>
>>> That's the thing about Apple. It just works and you don't have to mess
>>> with it.
>>> Of course you have to accept the Apple way of doing things but it works
>>> so well most people don't even care.
>>> All my kids you Apple Mac machines of various types and they never
>>> bother with the OS at all. Everything backs up to the cloud and is
>>> synced across their various devices.
>>>
>>>
>> Someone could "roll their own" solution and get something like this
>> working for just about any app and device. But in most cases it's going
>> to require a level of technical knowledge that most people don't have.
>>
>> With Apple it's a 1-stop (and 1-step) solution if you use their apps.
>> Their apps being mail, contacts, calendar, etc. It's all stored in their
>> cloud with your Apple-ID so when you setup a new device you simply login
>> and all of this is taken care of for you.
>>
>>
>>> About the only complaint I have heard is when a new version of iOS
>>> comes out and they have so many pictures and apps on their phone there
>>> isn't enough room to install the update.
>>> Easily remedied though.
>>
>> There's basically nothing that any product can do when there's 500-megs
>> of free space left and you need to download a 600-meg software update.
>> The solution is to not do the update over-the-air and to plug the device
>> into iTunes. The update will temporarily move some data from the
>> phone/tablet to the laptop, install the update and then move the data
>> back. Short of trying to compress data locally to make more room,
>> there's not much chance of getting around the low disk space.
>>
>>> Compare this to Linux.
>>> Linux is a freaking disaster when it comes to user friendliness.
>>> There is a thread over in alt.os.linux.ubuntu where some poor sap is
>>> asking how to sync his phone with Linux via wifi or BT. You have to
>>> read the replies from these Linux loons. It's literally hysterical.
>>>
>>> That thread is *the* poster child for not using Linux.
>>
>> I've never tried this on Linux. On Windows it's up to the app as to how
>> "friendly" it is to syncing with external data. I've managed to get
>> things working for the most part but it took some time and some
>> tweaking. But with the Macbook it just works without having to do much
>> more than just logging in with your Apple-ID. It gets all your
>> settings/preferences from their cloud and sets up you desktop apps to
>> work. Very nicely done.
>
> Windows 8/8.1/10 do something quite similar though not quite as complete.
>

What I found strange is that I sort-of liked the Dell XPS-13. It looks like 
a decent machine in a lot of ways.

But one of the negatives about the Dell laptop is that it came with 
Windows-10. I've seen one of my neighbors use it and it wasn't all that 
appealing to me.

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#331960

On Mon, 09 Nov 2015 15:11:05 -0500, Ezekiel wrote:

> "Lloyd Parsons" <lloydp211@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:dacbsdFsfevU1@mid.individual.net...
>> On Mon, 09 Nov 2015 12:10:58 -0500, Ezekiel wrote:
>>
>>
>> Windows 8/8.1/10 do something quite similar though not quite as
>> complete.
>>
>>
> What I found strange is that I sort-of liked the Dell XPS-13. It looks
> like a decent machine in a lot of ways.
> 
> But one of the negatives about the Dell laptop is that it came with
> Windows-10. I've seen one of my neighbors use it and it wasn't all that
> appealing to me.

I'm not enamored of it either though I have it on all my Windows boxes.  
On the HP AIO desktop it is much more pleasant to use than it is on the 
laptops w/touch.  On the laptops W8.1 was better imo.

These days I'm mostly on the Pixel Chromebook as it does all of what I 
actually do on a daily basis.  It is even quicker to install and setup, 
and just like OSX gets all the settings and so forth from the cloud.


-- 
Lloyd

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#332004

On 2015-11-09 2:52 PM, Lloyd Parsons wrote:
> On Mon, 09 Nov 2015 12:10:58 -0500, Ezekiel wrote:
> 
>> "Big Fish in a Small Crotch" <bigfishinasmallcrotch@myself.com> wrote in
>> message news:1xihng4k8f0sc.1aix5jvbn4ota$.dlg@40tude.net...
>>> On Mon, 9 Nov 2015 11:22:22 -0500, Ezekiel wrote:
>>>
>>>> So I decided to upgrade my aging laptop. It's an older Acer i5 that's
>>>> pretty big and weights about 6 lbs. I have a full desktop and plenty
>>>> of CPU+storage on the network so I don't need a really powerful
>>>> machine. Decided to go with something light and portable.
>>>>
>>>> Factors were:
>>>>   Size and portability - Extremely important SSD drive - Must have
>>>>   Battery life - important DVD-Drive - Do not want at all High res
>>>>   display - very nice to have Touch screen - nice to have Gaming - N/A
>>>>   100% silent (no CPU fan) - nice to have
>>>>
>>>> I looked around and decided to go with a Macbook. Not a Macbook Air
>>>> and not a Macbook Pro, but the small 2lb Macbook like this one :
>>>> https://www.apple.com/macbook/
>>>>
>>>> It only weighs 2 lbs and is about a 1/2" thick. Not entirely sure but
>>>> it might be the smallest/lightest ultrabook available. The display is
>>>> 2304x1440 and the battery last 7+ hours in real life usage. The only
>>>> other laptop that I considered seriously was the Dell XPS-13 which was
>>>> a close 2nd.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> What I like:
>>>>
>>>> The Touchpad is the best I've ever used. Period. it's as smooth as
>>>> glass because it is glass. It has the force-touch which is very cool.
>>>> When you press hard (adjustable) it actually feels like the touchpad
>>>> "clicks' down.
>>>> But it doesn't move or click at all. it just feels like it does. Try
>>>> it out if you can get your hands on one from a friend or at an Apple
>>>> Store. You'll be absolutely convinced that it clicks down even though
>>>> it doesn't move at all. (The amount of "click" feedback is also
>>>> adjustable.) Fantastic touchpad in every way.
>>>>
>>>> The screen is excellent and the battery life easily gives me a full
>>>> day of usage. The 802.11ac wireless is way faster than the Acer's
>>>> 802.11g and the backlit keyboard is also something the Acer didn't
>>>> have. There's no CPU fan and it has an SSD so it's always 100% silent.
>>>>
>>>> All the hardware works perfectly. Open or close the lid and it does
>>>> the right thing. The power button works and I spent exactly zero time
>>>> messing with acpid or apcupsd. It works the way it's supposed to right
>>>> out of the box.
>>>>
>>>> The hardware, build quality and fit-and-finish is top notch. It looks
>>>> and feels like a well build device.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> What I don't like:
>>>>
>>>> No Mag-Safe connector. The Macbook Air that my wife stole from me 2
>>>> years ago has one but this Macbook is so thin that there wasn't room
>>>> for one. So it charges with a USB-C connector but I would prefer a
>>>> Mag-Safe.
>>>>
>>>> Since there's no room for Mag-Safe give it a lightening connector
>>>> which is pretty ubiquitous for people with other iDevices. I don't
>>>> want yet another different cable with a USB-C connector.
>>>>
>>>> Not easy to open the lid. Maybe my hands are too big but it takes a
>>>> fine touch to open the skinny little thing.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> The Apple eco-system or walled garden:
>>>>
>>>> Say what you want about this but it "just works" and works incredibly
>>>> well and easy. When I powered it up and set it up for the first time
>>>> it asked me to sign-in with my Apple-ID. Done. Finished. Nothing else
>>>> to setup, configure, edit, whatever.
>>>>
>>>> Once I signed in with my Apple ID my email, calendar, contacts,
>>>> text-messages, photos, documents, shared-photos, todo-list, music and
>>>> everything else was synced with my iPhone. I didn't need to configure
>>>> a half-dozen apps individually. Everything that I need to stay in sync
>>>> and share across devices was done.
>>>>
>>>> Maybe I don't get some fine level of control that 1% of users might
>>>> need.
>>>> But 99% of users won't care because "stuff" they otherwise would never
>>>> be able to setup on their own "just works" with very little to no
>>>> effort.
>>>
>>> That's the thing about Apple. It just works and you don't have to mess
>>> with it.
>>> Of course you have to accept the Apple way of doing things but it works
>>> so well most people don't even care.
>>> All my kids you Apple Mac machines of various types and they never
>>> bother with the OS at all. Everything backs up to the cloud and is
>>> synced across their various devices.
>>>
>>>
>> Someone could "roll their own" solution and get something like this
>> working for just about any app and device. But in most cases it's going
>> to require a level of technical knowledge that most people don't have.
>>
>> With Apple it's a 1-stop (and 1-step) solution if you use their apps.
>> Their apps being mail, contacts, calendar, etc. It's all stored in their
>> cloud with your Apple-ID so when you setup a new device you simply login
>> and all of this is taken care of for you.
>>
>>
>>> About the only complaint I have heard is when a new version of iOS
>>> comes out and they have so many pictures and apps on their phone there
>>> isn't enough room to install the update.
>>> Easily remedied though.
>>
>> There's basically nothing that any product can do when there's 500-megs
>> of free space left and you need to download a 600-meg software update.
>> The solution is to not do the update over-the-air and to plug the device
>> into iTunes. The update will temporarily move some data from the
>> phone/tablet to the laptop, install the update and then move the data
>> back. Short of trying to compress data locally to make more room,
>> there's not much chance of getting around the low disk space.
>>
>>> Compare this to Linux.
>>> Linux is a freaking disaster when it comes to user friendliness.
>>> There is a thread over in alt.os.linux.ubuntu where some poor sap is
>>> asking how to sync his phone with Linux via wifi or BT. You have to
>>> read the replies from these Linux loons. It's literally hysterical.
>>>
>>> That thread is *the* poster child for not using Linux.
>>
>> I've never tried this on Linux. On Windows it's up to the app as to how
>> "friendly" it is to syncing with external data. I've managed to get
>> things working for the most part but it took some time and some
>> tweaking. But with the Macbook it just works without having to do much
>> more than just logging in with your Apple-ID. It gets all your
>> settings/preferences from their cloud and sets up you desktop apps to
>> work. Very nicely done.
> 
> Windows 8/8.1/10 do something quite similar though not quite as complete.

Windows 8 to 10's implementation is pretty good. I like how my choice of
intro wallpaper as well as all of my other settings are saved and
transferred to every new device. It saved me time customizing.


-- 
Slimer

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#331898

On Mon, 09 Nov 2015 11:22:22 -0500, Ezekiel wrote:

> So I decided to upgrade my aging laptop. It's an older Acer i5 that's
> pretty big and weights about 6 lbs. I have a full desktop and plenty of
> CPU+storage on the network so I don't need a really powerful machine.
> Decided to go with something light and portable.
> 
> Factors were:
>   Size and portability - Extremely important SSD drive - Must have
>   Battery life - important DVD-Drive - Do not want at all High res
>   display - very nice to have Touch screen - nice to have Gaming - N/A
>   100% silent (no CPU fan) - nice to have
> 
> I looked around and decided to go with a Macbook. Not a Macbook Air and
> not a Macbook Pro, but the small 2lb Macbook like this one :
> https://www.apple.com/macbook/
> 
> It only weighs 2 lbs and is about a 1/2" thick. Not entirely sure but it
> might be the smallest/lightest ultrabook available. The display is
> 2304x1440 and the battery last 7+ hours in real life usage. The only
> other laptop that I considered seriously was the Dell XPS-13 which was a
> close 2nd.
> 
> 
> What I like:
> 
> The Touchpad is the best I've ever used. Period. it's as smooth as glass
> because it is glass. It has the force-touch which is very cool. When you
> press hard (adjustable) it actually feels like the touchpad "clicks'
> down. But it doesn't move or click at all. it just feels like it does.
> Try it out if you can get your hands on one from a friend or at an Apple
> Store. You'll be absolutely convinced that it clicks down even though it
> doesn't move at all. (The amount of "click" feedback is also
> adjustable.) Fantastic touchpad in every way.
> 
> The screen is excellent and the battery life easily gives me a full day
> of usage. The 802.11ac wireless is way faster than the Acer's 802.11g
> and the backlit keyboard is also something the Acer didn't have. There's
> no CPU fan and it has an SSD so it's always 100% silent.
> 
> All the hardware works perfectly. Open or close the lid and it does the
> right thing. The power button works and I spent exactly zero time
> messing with acpid or apcupsd. It works the way it's supposed to right
> out of the box.
> 
> The hardware, build quality and fit-and-finish is top notch. It looks
> and feels like a well build device.
> 
> 
> What I don't like:
> 
> No Mag-Safe connector. The Macbook Air that my wife stole from me 2
> years ago has one but this Macbook is so thin that there wasn't room for
> one. So it charges with a USB-C connector but I would prefer a Mag-Safe.
> 
> Since there's no room for Mag-Safe give it a lightening connector which
> is pretty ubiquitous for people with other iDevices. I don't want yet
> another different cable with a USB-C connector.
> 
> Not easy to open the lid. Maybe my hands are too big but it takes a fine
> touch to open the skinny little thing.
> 
> 
> The Apple eco-system or walled garden:
> 
> Say what you want about this but it "just works" and works incredibly
> well and easy. When I powered it up and set it up for the first time it
> asked me to sign-in with my Apple-ID. Done. Finished. Nothing else to
> setup, configure, edit, whatever.
> 
> Once I signed in with my Apple ID my email, calendar, contacts,
> text-messages, photos, documents, shared-photos, todo-list, music and
> everything else was synced with my iPhone. I didn't need to configure a
> half-dozen apps individually. Everything that I need to stay in sync and
> share across devices was done.
> 
> Maybe I don't get some fine level of control that 1% of users might
> need. But 99% of users won't care because "stuff" they otherwise would
> never be able to setup on their own "just works" with very little to no
> effort.

That is one sweet machine for sure.  Congrats!



-- 
Lloyd

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#331903

"Lloyd Parsons" <lloydp211@gmail.com> wrote in message 
news:dac2biFpvn9U1@mid.individual.net...
> On Mon, 09 Nov 2015 11:22:22 -0500, Ezekiel wrote:
>
>> So I decided to upgrade my aging laptop. It's an older Acer i5 that's
>> pretty big and weights about 6 lbs. I have a full desktop and plenty of
>> CPU+storage on the network so I don't need a really powerful machine.
>> Decided to go with something light and portable.
>>
>> Factors were:
>>   Size and portability - Extremely important SSD drive - Must have
>>   Battery life - important DVD-Drive - Do not want at all High res
>>   display - very nice to have Touch screen - nice to have Gaming - N/A
>>   100% silent (no CPU fan) - nice to have
>>
>> I looked around and decided to go with a Macbook. Not a Macbook Air and
>> not a Macbook Pro, but the small 2lb Macbook like this one :
>> https://www.apple.com/macbook/
>>
>> It only weighs 2 lbs and is about a 1/2" thick. Not entirely sure but it
>> might be the smallest/lightest ultrabook available. The display is
>> 2304x1440 and the battery last 7+ hours in real life usage. The only
>> other laptop that I considered seriously was the Dell XPS-13 which was a
>> close 2nd.
>>
>>
>> What I like:
>>
>> The Touchpad is the best I've ever used. Period. it's as smooth as glass
>> because it is glass. It has the force-touch which is very cool. When you
>> press hard (adjustable) it actually feels like the touchpad "clicks'
>> down. But it doesn't move or click at all. it just feels like it does.
>> Try it out if you can get your hands on one from a friend or at an Apple
>> Store. You'll be absolutely convinced that it clicks down even though it
>> doesn't move at all. (The amount of "click" feedback is also
>> adjustable.) Fantastic touchpad in every way.
>>
>> The screen is excellent and the battery life easily gives me a full day
>> of usage. The 802.11ac wireless is way faster than the Acer's 802.11g
>> and the backlit keyboard is also something the Acer didn't have. There's
>> no CPU fan and it has an SSD so it's always 100% silent.
>>
>> All the hardware works perfectly. Open or close the lid and it does the
>> right thing. The power button works and I spent exactly zero time
>> messing with acpid or apcupsd. It works the way it's supposed to right
>> out of the box.
>>
>> The hardware, build quality and fit-and-finish is top notch. It looks
>> and feels like a well build device.
>>
>>
>> What I don't like:
>>
>> No Mag-Safe connector. The Macbook Air that my wife stole from me 2
>> years ago has one but this Macbook is so thin that there wasn't room for
>> one. So it charges with a USB-C connector but I would prefer a Mag-Safe.
>>
>> Since there's no room for Mag-Safe give it a lightening connector which
>> is pretty ubiquitous for people with other iDevices. I don't want yet
>> another different cable with a USB-C connector.
>>
>> Not easy to open the lid. Maybe my hands are too big but it takes a fine
>> touch to open the skinny little thing.
>>
>>
>> The Apple eco-system or walled garden:
>>
>> Say what you want about this but it "just works" and works incredibly
>> well and easy. When I powered it up and set it up for the first time it
>> asked me to sign-in with my Apple-ID. Done. Finished. Nothing else to
>> setup, configure, edit, whatever.
>>
>> Once I signed in with my Apple ID my email, calendar, contacts,
>> text-messages, photos, documents, shared-photos, todo-list, music and
>> everything else was synced with my iPhone. I didn't need to configure a
>> half-dozen apps individually. Everything that I need to stay in sync and
>> share across devices was done.
>>
>> Maybe I don't get some fine level of control that 1% of users might
>> need. But 99% of users won't care because "stuff" they otherwise would
>> never be able to setup on their own "just works" with very little to no
>> effort.
>
> That is one sweet machine for sure.  Congrats!
>

It's a huge improvement over the 6-lb knee burner Acer that I've had for a 
few years. What's surprising is that when I look at all the laptops that are 
sold online most of them still weigh 4 to 6 lbs and have the HD (1920x1080) 
display. That's basically the same as my old Acer.

Going from that anchor to a 2lb laptop is a very noticeable difference. I 
actually turned on the Acer for a little bit on Sunday to get some local 
files off there and it felt like such a huge step backward.

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