New Laptop. Times are changing!!

[GlennSprigg]

New Win-10 Signature Edition Laptop for 'missus' is fine now! A few interesting points though... 

The latest Win-10 (probably has for years now!) at least 'looks' a lot more like Win-7 from the Desktop!!   
(Instead of that ugly plain 2D desktop full of purple squares etc, aimed at the touch-screen and surface market!!).

And that the latest laptops/notebooks these days are now released  'solely' without motorized Hard-Drives, but Solid-State ones!! 
Me being 'old' though, apart from the obvious 'SSD' drives, until the other day I hadn't even heard of the 'alternative' eMMC Storage!! 
I've since found out it is cheaper, but not as good as 'SSD', but seems to be ok for the vast majority of simple users, like my missus needs!!

I found it strange though, to not hear anything now!... No whirring hard-drive etc!!  Also, unlike older Laptops etc, I miss seeing the old
Hard-Drive activity light, so that you know when the system is busy doing something!  Sometimes, you want/need FeedBack, to verify that you
clicked something properly, or know to wait, while it's busy etc.  One gets used to that!   

However, I found (one of many out there!) a free HDD Light program, from www.myportablesoftware.com that simulates on screen any
drive activity, including other functions and information.  I feel a bit more at 'home' now... hahaha... 

[Halcyon]

Welcome to the 2000's :-P

Honestly, though, I just bought a laptop a few months ago which entirely replaced my desktop PC. Not only does it out-perform the HP Z840 workstations I'm used to using, the GPU is decent enough to play many games at 4K resolutions @ 60fps. A handful of RAM and dual NVMe SSDs make it a really nice machine indeed and it's thin, and relatively light.

[exe]

I'm waiting for the next gen cpus from amd to buy a laptop. My prev laptop was asus ux931, very cool little laptop in terms of weight, size and performance. Unfortunately, one of usb-c ports stopped working, so I had to return it. I'd love to get something similar.

[Ed.Kloonk]

[Psi]

First thing i always do with Win10 is install Classic Shell,  once that is done and i tweak some classic shell settings it's just like win7 again.

[Halcyon]

First thing i always do with Win10 is install Classic Shell,  once that is done and i tweak some classic shell settings it's just like win7 again.

The first thing I do is format and install Linux. It's just like a proper computer again. :-)

[Ed.Kloonk]

I was an anti-laptop man for yonks. I hated the idea of a fragile spinning disk in anything portable. Then I shoved a SDD into a eee-pc 1000h. Tried reloading XP (painful) so I found a lightweight distro and I was off to the races.
I got a full ten years out of that laptop. Alas only runs 32-bit. It's replacement one came with no windows installed.

[Jeroen3]

Me being 'old' though, apart from the obvious 'SSD' drives, until the other day I hadn't even heard of the 'alternative' eMMC Storage!! 
I've since found out it is cheaper, but not as good as 'SSD', but seems to be ok for the vast majority of simple users, like my missus needs!!

Little warning though. eMMC or soldered flash is typically very small (eg 64GB) and quickly fills up with Windows not being able to perform updates anymore. It is the absolute minimum spec to run windows today, but is quickly overwhelmed by the next feature update.
Recommended disk space for a pc that only runs windows without any big apps is 128 GB imho.

[GlennSprigg]

(Attachment Link)

Hey!!...  My 'GrogGrunt 2000' phone still works fine!!   

[GlennSprigg]

I'm waiting for the next gen cpus from amd to buy a laptop. My prev laptop was asus ux931, very cool little laptop in terms of weight, size and performance. Unfortunately, one of usb-c ports stopped working, so I had to return it. I'd love to get something similar.

Yea... This new one has 1 new Type-C port, and 2 normal USB Ports.  With a wireless mouse & a USB memory stick, then there's
nothing left for her mass-storage external HDD. So I've ordered an adapter on eBay, (only $8.99, no postage cost!) to adapt the
Type-C port to 4 USB-3 Ports.  I guess the 'new' Type-C ports will come more into use with dedicated devices! 

[rdl]

Not having a drive activity light would be a deal killer for me. I also like having a network activity light. The laptop form factor is overall very awkward. They're only good for when mobility is mandatory. The limited screen size and needing the screen to be permanently connected to the keyboard makes them clunky to use, not to mention the annoyance of requiring batteries and a charger. And all this discomfort comes at a significant price premium compared to a desktop PC.

[james_s]

The lack of a drive activity light is one of the few things I don't like about my Lenovo X250. That seems to be the way of the future though, I think most laptops have not had them in several years. I've toyed with trying to add one.

[Ed.Kloonk]

(Attachment Link)

Hey!!...  My 'GrogGrunt 2000' phone still works fine!!   

Hey, is that one of the tablets that Moses used?

[Halcyon]

The lack of a drive activity light is one of the few things I don't like about my Lenovo X250. That seems to be the way of the future though, I think most laptops have not had them in several years. I've toyed with trying to add one.

Most laptops don't have drive activity lights these days. You would need some kind of software implementation if you want to retain that function.

[Mechatrommer]

And that the latest laptops/notebooks these days are now released  'solely' without motorized Hard-Drives, but Solid-State ones!! 
Me being 'old' though, apart from the obvious 'SSD' drives, until the other day I hadn't even heard of the 'alternative' eMMC Storage!! 
I've since found out it is cheaper, but not as good as 'SSD', but seems to be ok for the vast majority of simple users, like my missus needs!!

I found it strange though, to not hear anything now!... No whirring hard-drive etc!!  Also, unlike older Laptops etc, I miss seeing the old
Hard-Drive activity light, so that you know when the system is busy doing something!  Sometimes, you want/need FeedBack, to verify that you
clicked something properly, or know to wait, while it's busy etc.  One gets used to that!   

thanks for making me think i'm not the oldest (in term of tech knowledge) one here... my first SSD is like maybe 5 years ago and its still working. i'm surprised at how reliable it is running in WinXP all this while (no TRIM feature)

The latest Win-10 (probably has for years now!) at least 'looks' a lot more like Win-7 from the Desktop!!   
(Instead of that ugly plain 2D desktop full of purple squares etc, aimed at the touch-screen and surface market!!).

the desktop part on my side is somewhat solved but i still struggling to figure out how to get rid of the annoying and useless purple and greenish boxes on the side of start menu.

The lack of a drive activity light is one of the few things I don't like about my Lenovo X250. That seems to be the way of the future though, I think most laptops have not had them in several years. I've toyed with trying to add one.

Most laptops don't have drive activity lights these days. You would need some kind of software implementation if you want to retain that function.

i think since SSD is super quick, no disc spinning wait anymore, so blinking led is not necessary anymore imho, writing hundreds to GBytes of data is only a matter of only a few seconds now. if needed i think task manager can still show which program is active operating or writing.

[ebastler]

This new one has 1 new Type-C port, and 2 normal USB Ports.  With a wireless mouse & a USB memory stick, then there's nothing left for her mass-storage external HDD.
So I've ordered an adapter on eBay, (only $8.99, no postage cost!) to adapt the Type-C port to 4 USB-3 Ports. 

You could also use a Bluetooth wireless mouse, which uses the Bluetooth radio already built into your laptop. No little radio thingy to lose, no USB port blocked, and hence you can connect an external HDD without yet another USB adapter dangling around!

[0db]

Honestly, though, I just bought a laptop a few months ago which entirely replaced my desktop PC.

What did you buy? 

[Halcyon]

Honestly, though, I just bought a laptop a few months ago which entirely replaced my desktop PC.

What did you buy? 

Lenovo P1 Gen 2

[0db]

Lenovo P1 Gen 2

Maybe later (March 2021?), but for sure I will "copy" you. 
Perhaps by then, Lenovo will update its machines 

In the meanwhile ... I own a MBP-2020, but I prefer carrying it with me only when it's strikingly needed. So, in order to reduce the probability of incidents or stealing, I have just bought a small and cheap laptop for daily light outdoor tasks.

It's a HUAWEI MateBook D14.
It's a cool quite and cheap laptop.

The LCD is 14 inc Full HD, the CPU is the little AMD Ryzen5 3500U, configured in "conservative mode". It doesn't squeezable out any high performance but rather it cares for not overheating the chip, and this is great for the battery.

I grabbed the cheapest model with 8GB ram and 512GB SSD.

The list price is 600 euro, I got it for 400 euro from a reseller as "open boxed return" (probably a cancelled order), and it comes "as new", even if the SSD is wiped, the Windows activation key is missing, and the manufacturer's seal is broken. All things I frankly don't care.

Great bargain, guys! I would recommend things like this from reputable resellers of your trust

[GlennSprigg]

The lack of a drive activity light is one of the few things I don't like about my Lenovo X250. That seems to be the way of the future though, I think most laptops have not had them in several years. I've toyed with trying to add one.

Most laptops don't have drive activity lights these days. You would need some kind of software implementation if you want to retain that function.

Yea... I mentioned that in my original post. It's mainly as a 'feedback' that 'something' is happening!! 
I keep telling the 'Missus' not to keep clicking on what-ever, resulting in multiple activations!!   

[Halcyon]

The lack of a drive activity light is one of the few things I don't like about my Lenovo X250. That seems to be the way of the future though, I think most laptops have not had them in several years. I've toyed with trying to add one.

Most laptops don't have drive activity lights these days. You would need some kind of software implementation if you want to retain that function.

Yea... I mentioned that in my original post. It's mainly as a 'feedback' that 'something' is happening!! 
I keep telling the 'Missus' not to keep clicking on what-ever, resulting in multiple activations!!   

I think most OS's are pretty good at subtly letting the user know "something is happening" by way of changing the mouse pointer. As I mentioned, I now use a laptop as my everyday machine and when I'm at home it sits closed on a stand anyway, even if it did have a HDD light, I wouldn't see it. I've never felt the need to question "what the hell is this machine doing?".

[rdl]

I wonder how much money they actually save by omitting the drive activity light.

[Halcyon]

I wonder how much money they actually save by omitting the drive activity light.

I think it's less of a cost issue and more of a design consideration. Consumers prefer sleek and nice looking computers as opposed to machines which are utilitarian and with companies like Apple focusing more on the look and aesthetics of their products (and packaging), features like that are less important.

[Bassman59]

I wonder how much money they actually save by omitting the drive activity light.

I think it's less of a cost issue and more of a design consideration. Consumers prefer sleek and nice looking computers as opposed to machines which are utilitarian and with companies like Apple focusing more on the look and aesthetics of their products (and packaging), features like that are less important.

I haven't thought about the lack of a drive-activity light in a long time, except last night when I was trying to figure out why my computer wasn't recognizing a disk I plugged into the USB port.

But what is the importance of this light when pretty much all laptops these days are SSDs?

[rdl]

The drive activity light is a small, but sometimes useful bit of information about what a computer is up to. The same can be said of a network activity light. Why they usually hide those on the back panel is beyond me. The drive activity light doesn't care what kind of drives are connected.