You can build a laptop out of open source components if you want a bad laptop

Re:You can build a laptop out of open source components if y... by brudgers on Saturday February 04, 2017 @10:44AM (#13567317)

To me, the biggest impediment to the open laptop is people have been conditioned to complain about size and weight beyond the point where it is likely to matter for their use case. Sure there are use cases where the difference in mass and bulk between a Thinkpad X1 and something the size of a Thinkpad P effect utility. Much of the time they don't.

Laptops have evolved a lot since my first laptop...a used ex corporate travelling salesman's Toshiba Satellite with a 386SX. At about seven pounds and two inches thick, it was still somewhat svelte by current laptop standards when I obtained in 1997. In 2001 when I purchased my first laptop, a $1000 would get you about the same...and that was the cheapest laptop you could buy and only if it was on sale. For another grand and a half or two you could knock about a pound and a half off the weight...yes three grand for a four and a half pound laptop. Laptops have evolved quite a bit since then.

But humans and the physical environment have not. Sure, side by side, it's easy to experience the phyiscal differences between a six pound box of electronics and a three pound box of electronics and to imagine how much happier the smaller box will make you. And that's most of the reason for smaller and lighter laptops, someone standing in the store imagining how much happier they'll be and opening their wallet a little wider.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:You can build a laptop out of open source components if y... by cguess on Saturday February 04, 2017 @12:10PM (#13567753)

You don't spend a lot of time traveling do you? I upgraded my Macbook about a year ago, and shaving off those 1.5 or 2 pounds saved my back so much. When you're moving cities every few days, walking through massive airports and hiking windy side streets to find the hotel your colleague booked that was "right on the main drag" but is actually 200m up the hill you learn to really love even that little extra weight being gone.

The extra space in a bag when you're completely carry on is a huge benefit as well since everything fits under the seat in front of you a bit easier, so you can board faster and sit down quicker.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:You can build a laptop out of open source components if y... by brudgers on Saturday February 04, 2017 @01:11PM (#13568096)

Most people don't spend a lot of time traveling. Some people do. There are different use cases. I spend a fair amount of time processing images. My laptop has 1.7 teraflops and 4GB of Quadro GPU. It's also not a typical use case. That's the difference between a ThinkPad X1 and a Thinkpad P.

As I mentioned, in the early 1990's the magically light laptop for Simpsoning through airports was 6+ pounds and 2" thick. What's changed besides raw compute is expectations not physiology.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:You can build a laptop out of open source components if y... by cguess on Wednesday February 08, 2017 @02:28AM (#13596512)

I'll say that a lot more people spend time with their laptops on their shoulders (every person in NYC, SF, London, Hong Kong, Chicago, Paris, etc.) than use their laptop for large render projects. A Macbook Air can handle even large still photos without breaking a sweat (I've done 1GB photoshop files while playing Spotify no problem). If you're doing 4K video it's another story.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:You can build a laptop out of open source components if y... by detaro on Saturday February 04, 2017 @12:18PM (#13567793)

Most attempts I've seen have been on the very small size (netbook-like), so there should be room up from there? Given how many "traditionally shaped" laptops are still sold I'm not sure the demand for lighter and thinner actually affects attempts at open-source ones, especially since initial adopters are going to be compromising anyways.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:You can build a laptop out of open source components if y... by brudgers on Saturday February 04, 2017 @01:22PM (#13568157)

Part of the critique in the article was form factor mass and bulk (compute was the other part). The standard for the critique was rooted more in how laptops are marketed than in human physiology.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:You can build a laptop out of open source components if y... by Nomentatus on Saturday February 04, 2017 @11:36AM (#13567564)

Unless you enjoy walking or walk to stay healthy. Then two pounds more or less matter. A lot. For your health, go light, and take fewer taxis.

I know what some of you are thinking: "carrying extra weight will be even healthier" - but also unpleasant enough that you won't actually walk much if you weigh yourself down that much.

[ Parent | on HN ]