New Laptop. Times are changing!!

[Halcyon]

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.

I've seen network indicators implemented very poorly as well. For example, we have Acer PCs at work which flash the NIC light on the front of the case on and off every 150ms or so when *any* activity is detected. Of course there is almost always activity on a network, even if it's a few bytes here and there so the light is forever flashing on and off. It gives you no indication at all of how much activity is actually occurring since it's 150ms off/150ms on, repeated. It's the same regardless of whether the NIC is relatively idle, or being fully utilised. It was clearly a case of implementing an LED for the sake of it.

They might as well have created an "everything is OK" alarm:

[BravoV]

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

It is, recently just bought Asus Zephyrus G14 octa cores Ryzen laptop, which is a new 2020 model, it uses exclusively NVME drive only, not even SATA, and it has drive activity led, which is quite handy, especially there is a heavy activity on the NVME.

As the NVME SSD drive is quite fast, when casual/normal loading program only gives faint blink and sometimes went unnoticeable, but when it lite up constantly, it means something is seriously hammering the drive.

The 3 tiny dots at the top position are on/off, charging and drive activity indicator.

[ebastler]

What happened to the space bar?! Did they hire the same industrial designer as Rigol? 

[BravoV]

What happened to the space bar?! Did they hire the same industrial designer as Rigol? 

LOL .. maybe. 

As weird and as funky as it looks, after using it for a while, that space bar shape actually feels good, especially the strange protruding part at bottom when typing fast and doing the touch pad simultaneously. 

[fourtytwo42]

Lenovo P1 Gen 2

Just surprised anybody here considers Lenovo after the widely publicized spyware scams involving this company (google Lenovo spyware), they been on my blacklist for years!

[Mechatrommer]

thats rigolish space bar is the least of the concern... i grew learning programming with this (below) layout and never look back. i even cry if i cant find that kind of "Enter key" which is as rare as hen's teeth today. no kind of laptop can even provide this layout even the slightest that made me snort when looking at anyone of them... with old keyboard i can program with my eyes closed. (mind/given the placement of Insert, Home, Del, End et al and Arrows must be in the exact location, you cant even move them 1 row down or else everything will be screwed)

[GlennSprigg]

thats rigolish space bar is the least of the concern... i grew learning programming with this (below) layout and never look back. i even cry if i cant find that kind of "Enter key" which is as rare as hen's teeth today. no kind of laptop can even provide this layout even the slightest that made me snort when looking at anyone of them... with old keyboard i can program with my eyes closed. (mind/given the placement of Insert, Home, Del, End et al and Arrows must be in the exact location, you cant even move them 1 row down or else everything will be screwed)

Dear Mechatrommer,  I bet that you hate those weird so-called 'ergonomic' Bent-up keyboards!!   
This one, is the WORST, that I only just found!!!  hahaha.....   

[Black Phoenix]

If we are going into ergonomic keyboards...


Ergodox Ez


Matias Ergo Pro


Kinesis Freestyle 2


UHK (Ultimate Hacking Keyboard) - Yes that thing on the left half is a trackpoint as the IBM/Lenovo Keyboards and on the right half is a trackball for the thumb, so you can choose which way you wanna control your cursor.


Dactyl Manuform 5x7 (normally custom 3D print to the hand size of the person who's going to use, and hard wired instead of PCB. Here's a build from start to finish - https://medium.com/swlh/complete-idiot-guide-for-building-a-dactyl-manuform-keyboard-53454845b065)


Kinesis Advantage2 QD - Nothing to say, one of the most known split keyboards in the keyboard world.

Let's say that since I arrived here on the other side of the world, my hobby list grown enormously...

[Mechatrommer]

Dear Mechatrommer,  I bet that you hate those weird so-called 'ergonomic' Bent-up keyboards!!   

the problem is not a particular layout per se. the problem is which one you grew up with. if i had those ergonomic bent up keyboard from the beginning, i will be forever longing for the lost lover since no one will ever manufacture it in exact dimension today (read muscle memory). similar to laptop, if my dad bought me a laptop first time, i probably a laptop lover today, but still a longing lover since every year laptop (similar to ergo-keyboard) will come up with so called more "modern and better" keyboard layout. i wonder if any coder can maintain their fast pace typing as before (enter,home,end,page up/down, shift select etc) while keep changing laptop (keyboard layout) brand. i think i'm blessed to start with an old layout that is maintained until today albeit few minor changes.

[GlennSprigg]

Dear Mechatrommer,  I bet that you hate those weird so-called 'ergonomic' Bent-up keyboards!!   

the problem is not a particular layout per se. the problem is which one you grew up with. if i had those ergonomic bent up keyboard from the beginning, i will be forever longing for the lost lover since no one will ever manufacture it in exact dimension today (read muscle memory). similar to laptop, if my dad bought me a laptop first time, i probably a laptop lover today, but still a longing lover since every year laptop (similar to ergo-keyboard) will come up with so called more "modern and better" keyboard layout. i wonder if any coder can maintain their fast pace typing as before (enter,home,end,page up/down, shift select etc) while keep changing laptop (keyboard layout) brand. i think i'm blessed to start with an old layout that is maintained until today albeit few minor changes.

   I do get what you are saying mate 
I remember the old original IBM Keyboards, with their clunky over-traveling keys, but gave physical positive 'feedback'.
I only use Laptops now, but sometimes plug in a 'proper' USB Keyboard, for more original feel/layout, when at home.
My biggest peeve with laptops, are TouchPads... I HAVE to use a mouse!!! 

[Mechatrommer]

thats rigolish space bar is the least of the concern... i grow learning programming with this (below) layout and never look back. i even cry if i cant find that kind of "Enter key" which is as rare as hen's teeth today. no kind of laptop can even provide this layout even the slightest that made me snort when looking at anyone of them... with old keyboard i can program with my eyes closed.

Pro tip for all coders: remap your caps to ctrl, you will thank me later when your pinky finger RSI relieves.

my keyboard gave up, so i have to dig out a new keyboard in stock then my subconcious direct me to google for keyboard remapper, i found SharpKeys and now its done back to good old layout again (as attached) i can code eyes closed. i think your msg is the one responsible for the "subconcious inception", thanks for the hint i think its been there all along. but i wont remap my caps key my pinky is too small to reach it and caps is frequently needed in old case sensitive C/C++ (just as ctrl-c and ctrl-v) so i was not quite get what you were saying.

[eugenenine]

  I do get what you are saying mate 
I remember the old original IBM Keyboards, with their clunky over-traveling keys, but gave physical positive 'feedback'.
I only use Laptops now, but sometimes plug in a 'proper' USB Keyboard, for more original feel/layout, when at home.
My biggest peeve with laptops, are TouchPads... I HAVE to use a mouse!!! 

I have long skinny fingers so I prefer smaller laptop keyboards.
I've been using the touchpad since 1998 so I prefer it over a mouse.

[ghida]

If you want to go back in time, search for "The Computer Chronicles" on YouTube.
Warning : it might make you feel old...