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Are thin laptops always better?

K

kyrax12

Platinum Member
It seems that thin and slim laptops are the hype now, but when it comes to durability wise it seems worse.

Thin laptops feel like they can break more easily than thicker laptops. Maybe it is an illusion, but thicker laptops do feel more sturdy.

I hope there would be more hardcover case for the thinkpad series. I have the t450s and I don't mind having a little more bulk. Hopefully the t450s series will get those hard-cover cases like the Macbook pros do.
 
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I'd take a slightly thicker (1/4" to 1/2" more) chassis if it meant more battery life. Not a fan of the trend toward thinness, but I guess you can only shave so much weight off without getting thinner.

As for your Thinkpad, there's a mag-alloy roll cage inside protecting both the body and the screen. Outside of more specialized and expensive laptops (e.g. a Toughbook) that's about as sturdy as you can get. I've never had a case on any of my Thinkpads.
 
I've been effectively using this Mac Book Air since mid 2012. It's got great air flow, keeps a battery charge for over 5 hours, and can effectively play all of Blizzard's and Valve's games. SSD loads games super-snappy, video streams and office apps work better than on my desktop because of gestures.

I don't know what else I could really ask for.
 
i have the acer s7. quite possibly the best thin laptop i've ever used. still working fine. i would never put a hard case on it. that's like buying a Lamborghini and then putting a front bra on, just ghetto.
 
I'm curious what they're going to do next. I mean, look at the new Macbook:

https://www.apple.com/macbook/

The thickness tapers from 0.52" down to 0.14". Somehow they were able to create keyboard keys that reviewers were pleased with, but I don't think you can get much thinner without giving up tactile feedback from springy keys, and I'd hate to lose that because that's how I type! It has the new 14nm CPU architecture, so it's fanless, which is pretty cool, and the modern 1.1ghz & 1.2ghz dual-core Core M chips are quick enough for average user tasks. I'm sure down the road we'll see a 3ghz model at 8nm with 64 gigs of RAM or something ridiculous, but I don't know if I'd want the form factor to get much thinner than that.

I did see one video review where they said it was surprisingly solid (no flex) thanks to being made out of metal & not plastic like other ultra-thin laptops. Now that they're pumping out sapphire glass, custom gold, etc. we may see even stronger, more drop-proof & scratch-proof laptops in the future. With that said, I'm pretty happy with my $199 Chromebook 😀
 
Kaido said:
Somehow they were able to create keyboard keys that reviewers were pleased with, but I don't think you can get much thinner without giving up tactile feedback from springy keys
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They'll do what they did with the trackpad and just make it buzz you when you press the key
 
kyrax12 said:
It seems that thin and slim laptops are the hype now, but when it comes to durability wise it seems worse.

Thin laptops feel like they can break more easily than thicker laptops. Maybe it is an illusion, but thicker laptops do feel more sturdy.

I hope there would be more hardcover case for the thinkpad series. I have the t450s and I don't mind having a little more bulk. Hopefully the t450s series will get those hard-cover cases like the Macbook pros do.
Click to expand...


MyThinkPad X220 with nine cell battery fits perfectly in a Pelican hard case (case #1080CC). Maybe you can find something similar for your T450s.
 
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When I used to work software/hardware repair for on-campus students in school, small form-factor machines always had the most issues. Most of it had to do with inefficient heat displacement, specifically the older MacBook Airs.

So many bloated/warped batteries and back plates.
 
kyrax12 said:
It seems that thin and slim laptops are the hype now, but when it comes to durability wise it seems worse.

Thin laptops feel like they can break more easily than thicker laptops. Maybe it is an illusion, but thicker laptops do feel more sturdy.

I hope there would be more hardcover case for the thinkpad series. I have the t450s and I don't mind having a little more bulk. Hopefully the t450s series will get those hard-cover cases like the Macbook pros do.
Click to expand...

How long do you plan on keeping it for? Chances are you'll probably want to upgrade before it physically breaks, unless you are particularly hard on your laptop.
 
I handled someone's Macbook Air last week and it felt way more strong / durable than his ancient Dell computer right next to it. The quality of the MBA was impressive. Its touchpad, screen, hinges, magsafe power connector, fast/responsive OS ... The Dell was creaky, loose hinges, absolutely horrific touchpad, the power cord fell out over and over, and Vista was inexplicably slow and unresponsive (downright unusable). It's no wonder Apple computers have much better resale value.
 
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DixyCrat said:
I've been effectively using this Mac Book Air since mid 2012. It's got great air flow, keeps a battery charge for over 5 hours, and can effectively play all of Blizzard's and Valve's games. SSD loads games super-snappy, video streams and office apps work better than on my desktop because of gestures.

I don't know what else I could really ask for.
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This. Our IT guys always make fun of my MBA while a small stack of Dell ultrathins sits on their desks for mechanical defect repairs/replacements. Our CFO broke the hinge on his during the first day. I'm not an Apple fanboy (mostly use Windows through Parallels) but from a physical perspective its kind of hard to beat them and if you travel a lot every bit of size and weight count.
 
K1052 said:
This. Our IT guys always make fun of my MBA while a small stack of Dell ultrathins sits on their desks for mechanical defect repairs/replacements. Our CFO broke the hinge on his during the first day. I'm not an Apple fanboy (mostly use Windows through Parallels) but from a physical perspective its kind of hard to beat them and if you travel a lot every bit of size and weight count.
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For IT use, a powerful Macbook running Parallels or VMware with auto-snapshots turned on for backup is hard to beat :thumbsup:
 
K1052 said:
This. Our IT guys always make fun of my MBA while a small stack of Dell ultrathins sits on their desks for mechanical defect repairs/replacements. Our CFO broke the hinge on his during the first day. I'm not an Apple fanboy (mostly use Windows through Parallels) but from a physical perspective its kind of hard to beat them and if you travel a lot every bit of size and weight count.
Click to expand...

All the network engineers at the ISP I work for use Apple products.
 
Thinner laptops are generally worse in every way other than they are thinner, which may make them fit easier in a thin laptop bag,or may make them lighter. But, that comes at a cost, worse keyboards, less cooling, less room for a battery, less room for a hard drive, weird/custom motherboard design, etc ...

That said, the same argument applies to laptop vs desktop, and essentially is why desktops offer superior performance per dollar to laptops.
 
My next laptop is likely going to be the 12" MacBook, albeit not the current generation one.

My current laptop is a 4.5 lb MacBook Pro, and I find it far too heavy and awkward.

Note though, I have a 27" iMac sitting on my desk at home, right next to a 24" Windows 7 desktop, so I don't really value CPU or GPU speed in a laptop. I want small, light, and very portable.
 
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BurnItDwn said:
Thinner laptops are generally worse in every way other than they are thinner, which may make them fit easier in a thin laptop bag,or may make them lighter. But, that comes at a cost, worse keyboards, less cooling, less room for a battery, less room for a hard drive, weird/custom motherboard design, etc ...

That said, the same argument applies to laptop vs desktop, and essentially is why desktops offer superior performance per dollar to laptops.
Click to expand...

Screw laptops. I carry a 16-core Xeon rig around and power it with a UPS just because I can.
 
Ichinisan said:
I handled someone's Macbook Air last week and it felt way more strong / durable than his ancient Dell computer right next to it. The quality of the MBA was impressive. Its touchpad, screen, hinges, magsafe power connector, fast/responsive OS ... The Dell was creaky, loose hinges, absolutely horrific touchpad, the power cord fell out over and over, and Vista was inexplicably slow and unresponsive (downright unusable). It's no wonder Apple computers have much better resale value.
Click to expand...

I used my last MacBook for 7 solid years before it fell apart. It was dropped and manhandled quite a bit. I don't understand why people still make portable devices out of plastic.
 
BurnItDwn said:
Thinner laptops are generally worse in every way other than they are thinner, which may make them fit easier in a thin laptop bag,or may make them lighter. But, that comes at a cost, worse keyboards, less cooling, less room for a battery, less room for a hard drive, weird/custom motherboard design, etc ...

That said, the same argument applies to laptop vs desktop, and essentially is why desktops offer superior performance per dollar to laptops.
Click to expand...

Desktop > Laptop > Tablet > Phone

It's always been this way, always will be. But companies will put in HARD work and lots of money towards making it SEEM like it's not the case.
 
Ichinisan said:
All the network engineers at the ISP I work for use Apple products.
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The entire company (including IT) use iphones and ipads also (they don't appreciate the irony when I point this out). I have the lone Macbook because it's mine personally...which I bought when they were trying to foist a massive 2 year old 1000lb Dell laptop sporting a 2 hour batter life onto me. I fly 75-100ish segments a year. Thanks but no thanks.
 
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