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PC laptops are UGLY

This is the laptop that I own. Yes, it looks like crap next to a MBP, however it is a nice simple design and better looking then some PC laptops. I am not sure about the silver casing on the outside. It is trying to pretend it is aluminum, but you can sure tell it is painted plastic. Oh well the price was right. It is no Thinkpad, but at least it does have a great keyboard that is very similar to the Thinkpad.
IBMN100_02.jpg


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I guess the consensus is that, for the most part, a good number of PC-based notebooks are ugly and a few are fine. But the MBP, for example, could use an update to freshen up it's clean, albeit aging design. Nothing too drastic but they should, at least, address the some of the imperfections such as the latches for closing the lid (maybe instead of placing it in the center where the top corners will bend upwards like an expensive boomerang, use two latches placed away from the center); the locations for the USB, firewire and other ports (maybe clean it up a bit so if a third party manufacturer or Apple itself decided to build a docking station, they can without sacrificing the clean lines of the notebook); the flimsy keyboard; and the rubber chassis surround (why not use aluminum, titatium, magnesium, etc). Apple could improve on many things without destroying the look and the brand -- look at Porsche's 911.
 
dpaanlka said:
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You know, every time I look at that photo it makes me really glad I didn't get it in red. It's bad enough in black.

Oh, and apparently the replacement monstrosity is out today. I'm curious about this one so am keeping watch on the Dell site.
 
It's not that PC laptops are uniquely ugly -- and they are ugly -- but that almost all electronic devices are ugly. Nearly all cellphones are montrously ugly, not unlike demon children from beyond the future, pulsing and deformed with nuclear energies, here to confess your deepest darkest desires to be ridiculed as they consume your soul to power their vast salt mines. MP3 players are ugly, desktop PCs are ugly, digital watches are ugly, the vast majority of TVs and stereos... the list goes on.

Electronic devices are usually targetted to one of two audiences: the young, who will presumeably want "cool" looking devices, and businessmen, who will presumeably not care about aesthetic value in their 9 to 5 cubicle world.

dpaanlka said:
Thats better than eight eyes, four of which are hidden under plastic flaps.
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This wins the thread.
 
For what it's worth, dpaanlka, I understood the point you were trying to make. It's not that the Dell would win any design awards, but it was a (more) simple design that didn't try to attract attention to itself. And what I mean by that, before everyone jumps in to say "Yeah, look at how ugly it is. It wouldn't want to draw attention to itself." What I meant was that it didn't go out of it's way to be like the Alienware machines and the XPS lines or the desktops with the windowed sides with the LED's all blinking around that really do look horrible. And all things equal (specs & price) I'd rather have the Dell that dpaanlka posted than an XPS styled laptop. Still, though, I'd much rather have a MBP (or a Powerbook, even the G3's were nicer than most of what we see today).
 
BG the man behind the tech gave us the 360 and the....and the....well at least give him +1.

Dell and Toshiba are making some fine notebooks(might not be all beauty but theres a beast within)....hp is getting there. Macbooks are looking better than the MBPs to me.



Bless
 
Father Jack said:
My wife want's to know where she can get one? ..... 🙂
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Tell her to go to the nearest Apple Store and ask for it!! That would make a funny story when she came back, or land you in a heap of trouble!! lol.

Tempted to get one of those slimline, style machines myself 🙄
 
This gets a bit more interesting. The lights - as with the current M1710 - should be able to be turned off by the way. Backlit keys are definitely a good touch on a gaming notebook.

http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/24/dells-xps-m1730-gets-more-specs-more-pics/

Undoubtedly know more tomorrow, but it's intriguing enough for me that I will probably end up buying at least one of these - maybe retire just one of my M1710's, since an 8700m / 2.6 stock and maybe 3.3 overclocked won't make a huge difference to the performance to my existing machines. Hopefully the 8700m will extend the battery a bit longer.

I think looking at it, it's become a 'so ugly I must buy it out of curiosity to see if it really is' machine.

When I need to see a Genius for the probably inevitable adjusting of something-that-Apple-should-have-done-at-the-factory-if-their-QC-wasn't-up-the-creek of my forthcoming SR MBP's, I'll be sure to crack open the Dell right in the middle of the Apple Store 😉
 
The biggest problem I have with PC laptops is their messiness. There are rarely a clean, uniformed look. Multi- toned insides, flashing lights on their "media control" keys, fan holes/grilles where it's clearly visible etc. Also, they're usually uneven. By that, I mean they always start think in the front and gradually increase the thickness towards the back. Even the Sony TZ series have this problem. I don't get how out of that many manufacturers, no one can manage a design that's as clean, thin and uniform as the mb or mbp, whose design is 4 years old. Hell, there not many that look as good as the tibooks which is like 6 years old. Why in 6 years has no one managed to copy the look? I would like to see a PC company to just produce a laptop that looks exactly like a mb/mbp except with a different logo on the front just to see if they're actually capable of doing so.
 
teflon said:
The biggest problem I have with PC laptops is their messiness. There are rarely a clean, uniformed look. Multi- toned insides, flashing lights on their "media control" keys, fan holes/grilles where it's clearly visible etc. Also, they're usually uneven. By that, I mean they always start think in the front and gradually increase the thickness towards the back. Even the Sony TZ series have this problem. I don't get how out of that many manufacturers, no one can manage a design that's as clean, thin and uniform as the mb or mbp, whose design is 4 years old. Hell, there not many that look as good as the tibooks which is like 6 years old. Why in 6 years has no one managed to copy the look? I would like to see a PC company to just produce a laptop that looks exactly like a mb/mbp except with a different logo on the front just to see if they're actually capable of doing so.
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but... but... then we might lose you to the darkside.
 
While the Jobsitized may say that, there are practical considerations to be made of a functional laptop, not something approaching a high-tech ornament that the MBP is for example when compared with it's equivalent PC brethren.

Granted, few manufacturers have the design expertise of Apple - but they produce working tools, or tools truly fit for the job, not tools which more or less work for you because you're willing to overlook certain things due to the way it looks.
 
jczubach said:
but... but... then we might lose you to the darkside.
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Don't worry, the only thing more horrifying than ugly laptops is Windows 😛😉😀.

Sesshi said:
While the Jobsitized may say that, there are practical considerations to be made of a functional laptop, not something approaching a high-tech ornament that the MBP is for example when compared with it's equivalent PC brethren.

Granted, few manufacturers have the design expertise of Apple - but they produce working tools, or tools truly fit for the job, not tools which more or less work for you because you're willing to overlook certain things due to the way it looks.
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Compared to a 10-15 pound desktop replacement monster, the mbp does lack some function and power. But compared to the same size/weight laptop, the mbp holds its ground pretty well. I just configured a new inspiron from Dell as closely as possible to the mbp (bigger hd (160) but worse GPU (8400m GS), and it comes to about a bit over $300 cheaper. Adding in software (anti-virus, dvd burning, photo apps etc) reduces the difference to around $150. However, the Dell looked much worse aesthetically, while not any more powerful.
Also, it may be childish, but looking at a prettier laptop actually makes me do the work better because I'm in a good mood. Looking at a clunky, ugly laptop just ruins the mood 😛.
 
Sesshi said:
This gets a bit more interesting. The lights - as with the current M1710 - should be able to be turned off by the way. Backlit keys are definitely a good touch on a gaming notebook.

http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/24/dells-xps-m1730-gets-more-specs-more-pics/

Undoubtedly know more tomorrow, but it's intriguing enough for me that I will probably end up buying at least one of these - maybe retire just one of my M1710's, since an 8700m / 2.6 stock and maybe 3.3 overclocked won't make a huge difference to the performance to my existing machines. Hopefully the 8700m will extend the battery a bit longer.

I think looking at it, it's become a 'so ugly I must buy it out of curiosity to see if it really is' machine.
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That thing is plain ugly and you know it. The spec on it sounds pretty good for windows gaming but if it was me I probably wouldnt be able to concentrate on the game due to the fact that the pure rankness of that computer would make me go blind.

The positioning of the track pad is just laughable, Dell Designer: "Today we're going to play pin the trackpad on the laptop" One attempt later, "aww that will do, design done"

Sure it will be a great computer but it certainly aint a thing of beauty, quite the opposite.
 
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