what I want is a mini pc, a battery pack and a docking ‘console’ in shape of laptop with a DP screen, ports, keyboard and touchpad. I can mix and match these according to my need, like 2 battery packs.
if I know somewhere power, display and keyboard will be available I can simply take the mini pc only.
I’ll take a dozen of those :)
Doesn’t the reduced thickness also contribute to higher Temps and the jet engine fans?
If it was a bit thicker, some of the empty space could be used to push air through and cool the components better.
But if it were like that, how would it die after two years of updates, necessitating you to buy a new one, huh?
The same can be said for phones, first they got rid of removable batteries, then the headphone jack and now they’re after the sim slot too.
Remember SD card slots in phones?
15 years ago, laptops had this and the space for a optical drive (about 5x M.2 SSD).
I went from a fat 17inch to a thinner 17 inch and now it’s 12 screws and 15 clips to open instead of 5 screws and 0 clips. God I miss my clevo :(
THANK YOU
I will pay a premium for a laptop that has both peak performance and a rugged enough case and build that I can travel with it without freaking out. I need desktop performance and laptop portability.
I mean it is what you are usually paying premium for.
TBF I’m happy with an optical drive being a peripheral these days, I probably need mine about twice an average year currently
Agree on everything else though. I miss my 17" from ages ago pretty much because it had a numpad
Yeah who knows how old this is. A builtin DVD/CD/bluray player? Tweet has date cut off.
But also yeah, I agree with the rest. I tried with the small form factor laptops for a while but in the end it’s neither here nor there: I’m not taking it with me everywhere (I don’t work in tech), even if it’s small. And the times I do take it with me the size does not matter much - as long as it still fits in my backpack I guess.
As someone who has used the peripheral ones, there is a tradeoff compared to built-in: they break more frequently. There’s just not enough “armor” keeping the internals safe from even just being squished a little too hard in a backpack
All I want is a laptop is 6-8 hours battery life that’s tiny so it’s very portable.
If I want what’s described here I’ll just use a desktop.
If its under like 25lbs, its probably still lighter than my backpack in high school was some days without any laptops and that was still very portable.
Also, desktop typically don’t last long unplugged.
If I have a 25 pound laptop with 2-3 bad dragons all the sudden I’m carrying about 50 lbs.
Maybe build the laptop split across the bad dragons and then it’ll be plug and play.
I’m afraid to ask… but is the “bad dragon” you’re referring to the website that sells gigantic alien dildos?
No they are the gigantic alien and monster and fantasy creature dildos.
Idk, pretty standard for the trades no? I’ve seen gigantic dildos everywhere from tech backpacks to snap-on roll cabs.
Desktop computers aren’t portable. They aren’t meant to be. Whatever this person is designing isn’t very portable, either. If it isn’t convenient to use on an airplane tray table, I’m not interested.
Does thickness/weight matter a lot for that or just the footprint?
For me, if I can bring it with me when visiting family, it’s portable. If all of these were part of the laptop, then I could skip bringing the second monitor and the charger sometimes. So it would be more portable imo.
Thickness matters because the tray table and seat back of the seat in front of you are usually at an acute angle. To get a good viewing angle the screen needs to be open to an obtuse angle. So the top edge of the laptop lid and the seat back will often be in contact to make a comfortable viewing angle, especially if the person in front of you reclines their seat. The thicker the laptop is, the higher the hinge sits. The higher the hinge, the higher the top edge of the lid. The higher that is, the more of an issue this becomes.
Imagine that purple is the tray and seat back, and green is the laptop.
You have options - if the screen is smaller, it’ll be less likely to hit. If you slide the laptop out, it gives you more space. That cramps the wrists if you’re typing, though, and eventually it’ll hit you. Making the laptop thinner gives you more options.
It’s not for everyone and certainly some applications aren’t available, but I’ve been surprised how well a tablet can substitute for a laptop. Plus I use GrapheneOS on a pixel tablet so it’s arguably more secure than your average linux laptop.
I like all of those things but currently I really like it to be light enough so it doesn’t bother my shoulders. On the go I want it to be light, at home I have everything with peripherals such as a USB hub, external monitors etc.
I really want to get a dock so I can plug everything through a single USB-C port but they are expensive and often have bad Linux support.
The weight of the laptop peripherals isn’t the killer there, its the mass of the cooling loop and charging block.
You could do smaller of either, but you’re sacrificing power with the power block and both power and longevity with the heat tubes.
I miss my dell workstation 2016
When they tell me they removed several conveniences to save a quarter pound I’m like, “dog I can deadlift 400 pounds do you think I’ll even feel the difference in my bag?” Gimme my ports back you assholes.
Why the hell didn’t they hire you on as a consultant for the laptop design team? Incredible lost opportunity, literally makes zero sense.
ive been suggesting that more people begin making custom cyber decks for years now. you can have a desk SFFPC level of power in a small lil suitcase.
For the battery issue, how much of that is just because they want to stay under the 100Wh mark for shipping in the US?
https://www.winmate.com/en/Product/L140TG-3
Also, apparently dual hot-swappable battery laptops have existed…
This is definitely the issue for batteries. Anyone who flies can’t have a battery larger than 100Wh.
My Compaq Armada 1500c has dual removable batteries and a removable floppy drive. The batteries can be lithium or NiMH.
The 800x600 active matrix LCD was a bit of a drawback as the years went by. Most of the websites I made back then are a bit small today.
Also, apparently dual hot-swappable battery laptops have existed…
Indeed, I still hold on to my trusty ThinkPad T420 for that reason (and the excellent Linux support). Two batteries can be used at the same time, one of them hot-swappable.
The T420 has dual batteries? Weird, my T430s (not recommended btw, but I got it for free) doesn’t have those. My x250 has dual batteries though.
