Biggest gripes with laptops

[Boink]

What are some of your biggest gripes with laptop design? I'll start with mine:

1. Cooling usually sucks, with small fans and even smaller heatsinks

2. Going off of number 1, the intake vents are usually on the bottom where they will be blocked by a poorly positioned leg or when the laptop is used on a bed/

3. The speakers, the sound quality and volume are almost always terrible. 

 

What are yours? 

[TheTacoSniper]

that I don't have one

[TheKDub]

The price to performance ratio....

[rambi36]

Small screen... I like big 24 inch-27inch displays a lot and when I stare at a laptop screen I have to squint a lot

[Guest]

The audio on my y410p is amazing.

Thicker laptops have decent cooling so i assume you are talking about slim profile laptops.

[Guest]

Biggest gripe would be price to performance but now days it isn't that bad compared to desktops.

[Clyne]

Sometimes too heavy or too big to carry around.

[LeopardChurch]

Mine would be hidden screws. Half an hour lost figuring out why the heck the piece isn't coming out. just to find that ONE screw. SCREW IT ARGHH.

[connorpiper]

I really hated how after years on all VAIOs the audio jack was on the left side. Then just MY new model has it on the right. I freaking spend like one minute trying to plug in my headphones.

 

But out of all the issues with laptops, I can't survive without one. I was laptop less for a month and it was hell. First World Problems.

[RelentlessAF]

The keyboard, the heat they give off, their lack in power, the small screen size, the fact that I can't justify it's portability enough to buy one. Those are mine.

[spenser_l]

I also have a Lenovo y410p, and I got it maxed out on sale for about $850 (at the time 40% off) and it's amazing.  The great graphical performance, audio, and multitasking all impressed me.  

 

Biggest gripe would have to be the multilingual keyboard that was not shown on the website, so in essence having a good keyboard.

 

One of the things I find most limiting on a laptop though in terms of form factor is the screen size, but when I'm at home I hook it up to a monitor and keyboard to fix that. Until I build my desktop that is.

 

Other things would have to be the battery life.  It'll be awesome when one day you can have a laptop with dedicated graphics that can last 8+ hours.  

[ZetZet]

tn panels and dvd drives in them

[MoonSpot]

BIOS locked to hell.

Heat Exhaust pointing down into some surface that pretty much blocks outflows.

Servicing laptops is waaay too time consuming and frustrating.

Integrated obsolete GPUs

Somewhat along the same lines, I hate docks for laptops. They all suck, and are really just port replicators.

[Fgtfv567]

Bad cooling, which results in unoverclockability and not being able to switch out components like how I can a desktop

[Thebman712]

the value for gaming is bad,i can build a 600$ gaming pc but a 600$ gaming laptop will be shit

[connorpiper]

Bad cooling, which results in unoverclockability and not being able to switch out components like how I can a desktop

 

Most M, Y, U, and H CPUs are locked. Most BIOS's also are locked. 

So that would be the first issues. Don't ever expect to overclock a laptop. 

[CaffienatedBovine]

Difficult to upgrade.

[Guest Kloaked]

I really really hate designs that cut away at the case to make it look more low-profile and thinner than it really is. Like, every time I see a laptop that does that, it turns me off from it. I consider it a design flaw (I know it's really not). 

[Koffehh]

1. As mentioned price to performance ratio.

2. The depreciation. (like most things these days tho)

3. Poor quality screens.

4. Upgradabilty.

5. Battery life.

6. I personally cant stand to use them, hate the mouse pads. (but im getting oldand I've always owned desktops and used desktops where ever possible).

7. And again for good measure points 1 and 2.

[rashdanml]

I own a Thinkpad X230. It's perfect for what I need: decent hardware, long battery life (I can push it to nearly 20 hours with all of the battery upgrades, but my current setup is at 12 hours without the slice - I use the slice for emergencies because it adds a bit of bulk), super-light (under 3 lbs, but goes up to 3.8lbs with my current config). Excellent keyboard, runs Linux like a dream. If I were to have a gripe, it would be the screen. Lenovo discontinued the laptop just as I wanted to order the IPS screen option, and I was forced to buy it from a retailer. Also, resolution, but that's not a big deal for a 12.5" laptop. Thinkpads are also amazing for the trackpoint - beats using a mouse by a long shot, as I never have to take my fingers off the keyboard. 

 

My ideal perfect device: Thinkpad Yoga. The screen flip is outstanding, and I do like the digitizer capabilities. Wasn't able to buy it because it was just being introduced at the time.

 

I don't use a laptop for gaming. Or video editing, or anything that laptops aren't really made for (besides overpriced devices built specifically for it). 

 

Eventually, mobile hardware will catch up to desktop hardware in terms of performance, so when that happens, laptops would be the de-facto standard. Particularly convertibles with digitizer pens - those were extremely versatile. 

[CyanOG]

They brake after months of usage.

[thunderdog512]

1: Few manufacturer websites allow you to customize your own laptop.

2: Most come with hard drives

3: I prefer to have solid buttons to click on the trackpad but it seems they are going away from that.

4: Battery life sucks

5: The ones that perform well generally weigh a ton and cost a ton

6: I hate touch screens. I'd be more willing to try windows 8 if most new laptops didn't have a touch screen. Yes, I know i don't have to use it but just don't like it.

[eLucid]

They don't have mechanical switches.

They generally don't last as long.

They cost too damn much.

[TheProfosist]

Small screen... I like big 24 inch-27inch displays a lot and when I stare at a laptop screen I have to squint a lot

Would you r really want to carry around a 24-27in laptop? And would that even for in your lap?

Sometimes too heavy or too big to carry around.

Then you bought the wrong laptop.

Mine would be hidden screws. Half an hour lost figuring out why the heck the piece isn't coming out. just to find that ONE screw. SCREW IT ARGHH.

This is why you download the matinence manual. Some companies like HP even have videos on their own site.

tn panels and dvd drives in them

Newer one can have IPS especially ultrabooks. Get one without a DVD drive then? Many of them don't have them. There is also a good number that have BD drives if that's what your looking for.

Somewhat along the same lines, I hate docks for laptops. They all suck, and are really just port replicators.

I don't get how docks for a laptop are a bad thing. I love mine I just slap it in and get instant access to multiple screens, proper keyboard and mouse, and many other external devices. Then I can just pick up where I left off. Once they can have thunderbolt GPUs I'll upgrade to an ultrabooks with just integrated gfx.

Bad cooling, which results in unoverclockability and not being able to switch out components like how I can a desktop

Heat and power are the main issues with anything that confined so its expected. In most laptops you can swap out just about everything except what the motherboard and maybe the dedicated GPU.

[TheProfosist]

They brake after months of usage.

Not when you get a proper one like below. My T420 has now gone through 3 years a daily use with no real problems. I've also upgraded as far as I can without dropping a quad core into it.

I own a Thinkpad X230. It's perfect for what I need: decent hardware, long battery life (I can push it to nearly 20 hours with all of the battery upgrades, but my current setup is at 12 hours without the slice - I use the slice for emergencies because it adds a bit of bulk), super-light (under 3 lbs, but goes up to 3.8lbs with my current config). Excellent keyboard, runs Linux like a dream. If I were to have a gripe, it would be the screen. Lenovo discontinued the laptop just as I wanted to order the IPS screen option, and I was forced to buy it from a retailer. Also, resolution, but that's not a big deal for a 12.5" laptop. Thinkpads are also amazing for the trackpoint - beats using a mouse by a long shot, as I never have to take my fingers off the keyboard.

My ideal perfect device: Thinkpad Yoga. The screen flip is outstanding, and I do like the digitizer capabilities. Wasn't able to buy it because it was just being introduced at the time.

I don't use a laptop for gaming. Or video editing, or anything that laptops aren't really made for (besides overpriced devices built specifically for it).

Eventually, mobile hardware will catch up to desktop hardware in terms of performance, so when that happens, laptops would be the de-facto standard. Particularly convertibles with digitizer pens - those were extremely versatile.