Laptop hardware to 'look out for' in 2015

True, provided the keep updating them. Looks like they're at Ivy Bridge currently, which is closer to up-to-date than I remembered. It would avoid having to go with a Mac, but then again I'm not sure if it would actually be a better option for me. Probably has significantly better build quality and reliability, though.

 

You can see the difference on some LED backlights because they switch the LED's on and off to control brightness, and sometimes they do it slowly enough to be noticeable. I can see it most easily with my computer on low brightness. Some LED backlight designs are better than others and you can't see flicker.

 

Well, they do have a 12" WUXGA convertible with Broadwell out, but it's not available directly through Panasonic in the U.S. and the price is...scary. Even for me, and I love these things.

http://www.dynamism.com/panasonic-rz-series.shtml

You can bet on that. I own a Sandy version and while I'm not crazy about the LCD itself, the machine as a complete offering is very hard to fault.

 

I do recall reading about that at some point last year. I notice it mainly when I'm on battery, which also usually has slightly lower brightness than when plugged in. I don't think it's a particularly high-end display, though it's 1920x1080 at least. Still not 16:10, but at least not 1366x768.

Interesting. That is expensive. Two grand plus for Broadwell-Y... with a base clock of 900 MHz at the starting price (though a nice turbo to 2.4 GHz). From the specs it looks like it's actually a 10.1" screen, too, which is pretty tiny for 1920x1200 IMO. But 16:10!

Pretty good port selection, too. 3x USB on a 10" is great. Even has good old VGA, and probably a high-quality VGA connector too at that price. 10-14 hour battery life and 1.64 pounds is impressive, too. Had to double-check that it wasn't 1.64 kilograms, as it doesn't look like it should be possible for it to weigh that little based on the pictures. It looks too sturdy for that weight.

Sounds like it might even still be made in Japan - at least, it's shipped from Japan. It's hard to find made-in-Japan computers these days. I have a camera (Sony), car (Honda), and CD-Rs (Taiyo Yuden) that were made in Japan, but it's a distinct minority amongst new products.

I like how they refer to both IBM and Sony leaving the high end part of the market in the description, to point out that Panasonic is still there. Though I don't like that both IBM and Sony left. The VAIO Z was my ideal high-end laptop for awhile back when I couldn't afford it, and ThinkPad T Series laptops are absurdly cheap (in multiple senses) these days compared to what they used to be.

 

Low brightness, warm colors, a matte surface work best for me too.

I went into this site and noticed that all my monitors flicker like crazy with respect to the 4a box, and one of them also for the 2a box, whatever that means:
http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/inversion.php

 

True. Which proves it was an ad hoc measure to begin with. As is the extened battery life. Which for the most part, is merely a reduction in overall energy expending devices rather that an enhanced power supply.

For example, if I now only manufacture 4 cyclinder cars down from 8 cyclinder ones, then of course my car line will show a higher overall fuel economy from one that include bigger engines. That's not design brilliance, rather, a marketing ploy.

 

Wow. That looks interesting for sure.

If only there was a slightly bigger version with digitizer support, and maybe 16G RAM.

 

LOL by the way, have you tried those Gunnar glasses, I find them helpful in reducing eye strain ........