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Comment by jeswin | Hacker News Reader

Apple makes the best looking consumer computer hardware, but a Thinkpad destroys it in every department except the Trackpad. Keyboard (no contest), upgradability, RAM, ruggedness, even price.

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I see people say that Thinkpads are more rugged than Macbooks and have to wonder what that opinion is based on. My own experience is that they're at least on par. (unless we're talking about the specifically-engineered "toughbook" style Thinkpads)

I've dropped my Macbook Air, open, from a standing height onto a tile floor (accidentally, obviously), and the only damage was a slightly bent corner of the lid. That was 3 years ago and I'm still using it every day. And my home beater is a 2008 Macbook Pro that I've dragged all over the world; the only failure so far has been a fan, which I replaced myself.

In my case, my opinion is based on:

- All (newish) thinkpads having spill-resistant keyboards.

- The best-selling ones (X & T series) meeting the Mil-SPEC 810G standard.

I use a Mac though, because I got tired of fighting to get Linux properly running on my thinkpad

edit:format

I've been impressed with the durability of MacBooks in the past, but sadly the "survives a fall from the top of a refrigerator without a scratch" feature has been superceded by "keyboard exposed to air, several keys stop working". They're way too flaky these days for the nice aluminum unibody to offset.

Good point. I haven't bought a laptop in a while, so my view is probably outdated. I do like the keyboard on my Lenovo work laptop though.

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