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Comment by artellectual | Hacker News Reader

Don't be shy to look at what Apple is doing. They got it right! I would be happy to pay premium for an excellent build quality linux laptop.

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Apple build overpriced low-end perf laptops with high build quality, I'd rather have performance at a way lower price.

Problem is: you're already pretty well catered to I should imagine. That's literally 90% of the OEM Laptop market competition.

The "build quality" means it looks nice, but it sure isn't durable. If you spill liquid on an Apple, it's a dead machine. If you drop an Apple, it's also dead. Thinkpads can survive a hell of a lot more abuse.

Every time a friend or colleague asks why I use "that" I simply thrown my laptop to the floor, pick it up and continue working on it.

Then I ask them to try the same with their Apple laptop.

That normally makes them never ask such questions again.

I learned that from an IBM (and later a Lenovo) sales person when presenting the X series. It's designed and built to tolerate real use. And some abuse :-)

People's needs and preferences differ.

I've used laptops for the last 10-15 years, often 8+ hours a day. I have not once dropped a laptop during those years. I'm completely okay with having a laptop that disintegrates when dropped and is better in other ways (thinner, lighter, longer battery life) as a result of not focusing on resistance to drops.

I guess it depends on your laptop. I dropped Macbook once (it was closed and there was a big scratch on case), but otherwise I'm very careful with it. I didn't drop my iPhone either. But when I owned old indestructible Nokia phone, I dropped it few times a week, just because I didn't really care. If I would own indestructible laptop, I might drop it as well sometimes. If I'm laying on bed with laptop and I want to sleep, I have to carefully position laptop on the floor. But I would happily threw it away, if I could, it would be so much easier.

Definitely agree on "If you drop an Apple, it's also dead.", but "If you spill liquid on an Apple, it's a dead machine." hasn't been true for me: Spilled a whole glass of water on my MBA which was running and it immediately turned off. After drying it on the heater for half a day it turned back on without any problems or damage.

Check out Louis Rossmann's Apple repair channel on YouTube. The vast majority of boards he repairs are broken because of liquid damage (he does actual board-level repair using microsoldering, unlike Apple which merely replaces everything). It's definitely a huge problem.

But isn't this a problem for nearly all laptops?

Mythbusted: "It's a more durable laptop because it's made of aluminum"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7XSckjRPo0

What does this have to do with liquid damage?

(Sorry can't watch the video right now because I'm on mobile data)

I don't believe that I actually want improved performance. I just want a smooth laptop that is thin, has long during battery life, and is price competitive. Essentially a MacBook at a reasonable price.

Downvoted: opinion presented as fact

Compare the cheapest Mac ($1000) to an $800 ASUS:

https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/macbook-air

https://www.amazon.com/i5-6300HQ-keyboard-Microsoft-signatur...

The ASUS has:

- a larger screen

- a better CPU

- a better GPU

- as much memory

- more storage

-disappointing screen quality(size isn't the only thing that matters)

-twice the weight

-1/4th the battery hours

-one of the worst touch pads around

That's maybe not a great comparison, it's a different class of product with worse battery life and much heavier. The MacBook Air has been optimised for a different use case.

The MacBook Air is an outdated product.

The closest real comparison is the MacBook Pro to the Surface Pro, in which case the MacBook is better at every price tier(expect for the touchscreen which is totally useful).

...an outdated product for $1k.

http://www.theverge.com/2016/8/4/12373776/2012-macbook-pro-s...

http://www.zdnet.com/article/apples-disgracefully-outdated-m...

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