why were vista era laptops so ugly?
Most bad designs come down to one driving market force: "I want this to look like a million bucks but cost $3.50."
Because they were the start of consumer grade laptops, before that most people with laptops were just using them because they were provided by the company they worked at. They used the cheapest, shittiest components and materials to make them as cheaply as possible.
>>54408976
This.
>>54408951
The T500 looked fine.
the same reason they still look like shit, they're uninspired clones of whatever Apple's doing right now that totally miss the point in an attempt to money grab
>>54408976
shitty consumer grade laptops have been around forever, the vista era was just when they started becoming even shittier
>>54408951
M1330 was a handsome laptop for its time. The only one that looked better were the Macbooks.
pre macbook air era
>>54408951
Have had this for 7 years now. Originally ran Vista, then 7, 8, and now 10. Still looks good, but weighs a lot.
Hey fuck you the M1530 was /fa/ as fuck
Still love that motherfucker
I used to play City of Heroes on my M1330.
Was pretty godlike at the time. Loved that little fucker
>>54409997
Does it has USB 2.0 or 1.0?
>>54409997
It looks cheap. Very cheap.
![300543_b1dddc12b08d91ecf521da826338a9c1[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/3trWzPI.jpg "300543_b1dddc12b08d91ecf521da826338a9c1[1].jpg")
>>54410599
That's a Dell Precision and the case is made of magnesium-alloy. It's not cheap in feel or looks (or price).
>>54411718
not him but it definitely looks cheap
>>54408951
I still sometimes use that same laptop. Overheats like crazy
>>54411751
>not him but it definitely looks cheap
Because it has no apple on it right? You people would eat shit if it has an apple logo on it.
>>54411718
>>54409997
>>54408951
Those look awesome, actually.
>>54411751
It looks clean and utilitarian. Also versatile due to the number of ports and the specifications. Exactly what I look for in a laptop.
>>54408951
They were still trying to look "futuristic".
>believing in the "hp laptops overheat" meme
>>54412175
Oh man something about those transparent coloured plastics makes me happy. A time when over the top 'professional' and 'modern' didn't rule the design of absolutely everything.
>>54408976
Bullshit. Shitty aspires and packard hells were sold way before vista. Just look up the 1692wlmi. Arguably windows xp was the first OS where laptops appealed to the masses.
>>54411718
"""""""""Magnesium allow"""""""""
Negro, that shit is plastic. The chassis is made of magnesium alloy but the outer case is plastic and breaks easily.
>>54412301
>15.6" brick laptop with neutered 25W CPU
>"This laptop doesn't overheat so other HP laptops don't overheat"
>>54412374
How do you then explain that the 27WPentium M HPs overheated all the time?
>>54412333
Hah, that's the one I used for a short time. 3 times RMA, then it worked... Absolutely awful choice of chips (why the fuck SiS with no driver support?). Very cheap plastics which pretty much broke by themselves, silver coat coming off. Ah, the memories of shitty portable life.
>>54411812
Or maybe because it looks like shit you autistic man child
>>54412473
It looks cheap until you realize that it's mostly made out of metal
>>54412334
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Hands-On-Dell-Precision-M6500-Workstation.23070.0.html
>The case tray and the display lid are both covered with an especially thick, exolated aluminum sheet, which not only ensures a distinctive look but also an excellent stability.
This is a review of the M6500 but it and the M6500 use an identical case.
>>54412546
*M6400
>>54411718
Looks a bit cheap to me but I'm not an expert.
>>54412595
What exactly looks cheap about it? The only thing I could possibly see is the keyboard.
>>54412771
The hinge. The fucking staples sticking out of the top for the lid clasp.
plus it just looks cheap idk what to tell you. Sorry your laptop looks cheap I guess?
>>54412940
What about this one
>>54413034
good looking hinge.
Nice trapezoid shape.
keyboard looks fancy
looks like it's made of lots and lots of bits of plastic, which is kinda cool, but also a bit cheap.
I'ma say it looks kinda cheap.
>>54413090
Most of it is metal
![adamface2[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/1CS4skf.jpg "adamface2[1].jpg")
>>54413090
and what exactly is a good looking laptop to you?
>>54411718
>That's a Dell Precision and the case is made of magnesium-alloy.
The dell chromebook 13 has a case made from magnesium alloy too and the design looks better.
>>54411812
you're clearly autistic
>>54410573
This has to be a fucking joke
>>54413326
Sure, but this thread is about vista era laptops.
>>54413326
>glossy screen
>round keys
>touchpad without buttons
It looks like shit
>>54413203
One with a big pair of tits
>>54413127
not exactly precious metal though, is it?
>>54408951
My hp laptop looks nice. Touch screen and rotating screen. Only issue is that hot as fuck turion64 x2 processors and hd3200m putting out as much heat as a modern day desktop
>>54409669
thinkpads always looked fine
>>54413326
that's a nice dark gray macbook
>>54413326
>the design looks better
so the only laptops that look good to you are the ones who copy the macbook?
I'm kind of sick of the minimalist fad right now. Everyone's trying to make their technology look like it's not technology and hide its features, which is just shitty design if you ask me. I like design that presents its features to the user.
>>54413034
windows 7 sticker...
>>54413883
autism....
>>54412175
looks like a child's toy
>>54413915
Thats my point
>>54410573
Nah, it really doesn't.
>>54413915
That's because it is a child's toy.
Business models were immune to that thankfully.
Why are 90s era laptops so sexy?
>>54408951
They weren't.
Certainly better looking than almost all of the shit they come up with today. Barring Macbook though, imo
>>54413899
The thread is about vista era laptops, autismo
>>54411751
Why? Not enough plastic chrome?
>>54412175
Those things were actually pretty comfy to use even though it looks like a toy.
>>54414393
>Apple
>Not Toys
>>54414393
I kind of want one but not for $100. Fucking expensive as fuck compared to other macs from that era.
>>54414393
>even though it looks like a toy.
>looks like
>>54414463
Not him, but what is that if showing?
>>54408951
Because you're thinking of consumer tier laptops, which are ugly no matter what time period.
>>54412546
Even the worst of these laptops look solid. Hardly ever see any that get seriously dented or chipped. Usually when you drop one, it breaks whatever it falls on.
I can stand and jump on an M6400 without any issue. The design was so good they still use it 7 years later on the newer models.
>>54412175
that aesthetics
HNGGGGGGGGGGGGH
>>54416795
Nvm they discontinued the chassis this year with something incredibly retarded looking. Looks like a commoner Latitude now. RIP
>>54412175
other than the shape, I loved this design back then, looked so modern back in '98/99, wanted it kind of badly but all the shit I ran was Windows only
the biggest issue is how it really looks like a toilet seat because of the shape, even though I know they were going for a literal clamshell look
with a more rounded-box look, it'd be a real classic
oh, and the shit's oddly heavy, the white plastic iBook released in like 2001 is actually a reasonable, normal laptop weight
>>54417382
>oh, and the shit's oddly heavy, the white plastic iBook released in like 2001 is actually a reasonable, normal laptop weight
Heavy, metal frame. The plastic is just the cover, non-structural.
The clamshell iBook was just over 3kG where the white iBook was 2.2kG.
>>54408951
All Windoze laptops are ugly with VERY RARE exceptions.
They're cheap and for classless plebs, like Windows itself.
Only Apple portable computers will be remembered as iconic. Even Sony's memorably small and / or thin portables will be forgotten because of their shit battery life.
Who remembers those bolt-on fucking meme docking stations that Windoze laptops used?
Yeah nobody else either.
>>54412301
now post uptime
>>54414479
look at the mouse position
the second time the mouse moves right it stops at a different icon than the first move
at the same position
>>54417939
>powerbook
>windoze
>>54417883
desu though I have a collection of PB100s, they're not really all that iconic, wonderful looking nonetheless though, I love my 170
>>54417939
IBM and Compaq both made their share of very capable docking stations as well, dunno about any other companies but DuoDock-like docking options weren't terribly uncommon in the '90s
>>54408976
When did consumer grade laptops come out? I have a lappy from 03 which was before vista and id call it consumer grade
>>54412333
The "Ferrari" version of it is fucking nice though. Too bad for some reason they went with a Turion X64 instead of a Core 2 Duo
>>54408951
Because it was before they figured out how to copy Macbook unibody design.
>>54418895
>desu though I have a collection of PB100s,
So how're their led-acid batteries doing?
I had one of the Duos and a DuoDock. Prolly in the garage still.
>>54412131
I have one for work. I love it for the power and quality, but it's a desktop replacement.
We run RHEL
>>54418692
because it moved farther to the left than where it started the first time around
the positioning is always relative, they do this a lot with a lot of their design philosophies. It takes getting used to but I have come to love it and wonder why others don't do the same thing
also that icon zoom setting is disabled by default anyway
also this thread is comfy
>>54408951
Look at the laptop you posted and it's easy to figure out.
1. Scissor-switch keyboards look like shit. Say what you want about chiclet kyeboards, but they look nicer.
2. Full-size keyboards look like shit. Functionally speaking, you expect the trackpad to be below the spacebar. If a laptop has a full-size keyboard the spacebar will be on the left side of the device, which means that aside from the asymmetry of the keyboard itself, the handrest will also be asymmetrical.
3. Keyboards that prioritize less useful buttons in a constrained space look like shit. That keyboard has an extra row of keys on the right because it opted for full-size arrow keys in a situation where they didn't have enough room for it.
4. Feature-creep looks like shit. When you add on features but don't want to pay for proper design, you end up with a shitty looking fingerprint reader on the handrest.
5. Cost-saving looks like shit. See that tiny-ass trackpad? That's because they didn't want to pay to make it have a functional-sized one. This is regardless of whether the cost savings was because they didn't want to pay for a better component (a larger trackpad), engineering (allowing a larger trackpad to fit that device), or design.
6. Cheap materials look and feel like shit. That laptop is made out of several pieces of plastic and looks cheap.
7. Laptops are often designed by engineers, not designers (or really bad designers). Engineers and bad designers do not know how to make an aesthetically pleasing device. They fall back to making devices that they thought looked good years ago, do not understand the principles of why they looked good in the first place, and are afraid to try new things in design.
>>54417883
>mactards unironically think that pile of shit is iconic
>>54419561
>because I say so
>>54419583
>my 50lb pile of shit is iconic because i say so
>>54419624
>your 50 lb pile of shit isn't iconic because I say so
Both can we play that game.
>>54412152
what... what is... I don't... what?
>>54419561
Who's that?
>>54419644
Why did you post that self portrait?
>>54419740
Cause I can
>>54408951
I had the 15" one of these.
God damn that silver keyboard pissed me right off to no end when I first got it.
You get used to it though.
Fond memories of the thing; it was a trusty companion through tough times, all up until the nvidia fried itself. Apparently that particular card was inherently faulty.
I never got the memo, but it lasted 3.5 years.
always kind of liked how my dv5 looks for some reason
7 years and counting, still runs well
ah, yes the slabs of walmart plastic era
sad thing, there are kids on /g/ who probably get nostalgic for older windows laptops now
hate the new, worship the old! it never changes
>>54417382
I liked how it had an inbuilt carry handle.
>>54412152
I have a big stiffy for those semi-rugged toughbooks.
>>54420562
We all do. But non of us own one or have use for one.
>>54420741
If I could find a CF-AX3 for a reasonable price I'd be all over it.
I've had a chance to play with one, and feels like handling a piece of military equipment. Can't justify the price though.
>>54408951
Making a laptop was simply more expensive back then...
But there was still a market for 300-900 dollar laptops, so the companies made them to go after that audience.
But in order to make them and still be profitable you had to make them from the cheapest shit... so basically they were just horrible laptops.
If you actually bought more expensive 1000+ USD laptops your laptop would probably be solidly built with a good design. I bought a fairly expensive 17 inch Vista HP Laptop back in the day and it was a solid laptop. Good build quality, good performance and good design. It's issues were that it got hot and it was not the lightest and thinnest laptop, but those could easily be overlooked. I also had a much cheaper Acer 13 inch of 15 inch and that was simply a god awful laptop.
Over the years laptop manufacturing become more and more well refined, so now you can get a really solidly built laptop for about 600-800 bucks; it will perform well, have good components, have a light and thin form factor and all that good stuff.
>>54420854
>for a reasonable price
>Can't justify the price though.
That's the thing though, isn't it?
No dire need that could justify it considering most of us are deskbound autistic slugs.
Not me of course, just speaking for you and the other jabba's in waiting.
>>54420910
The only justification I have is for when I fly into an autistic range, flailing around my ham fists around, breaking random things, and crying.
>>54412301
Lets just ignore the HP/Nvidia class action lawsuit where the GPUs of thousands of laptops cooked themselves to death
>>54418895
god damn, I want one of these
it's hard for me to justify other than the looks though
like, I have a bunch of 68k Mac software, but getting it on the machine might be a right pain in the ass
as for your point, 90s-era ThinkPads are super fucking iconic (actually, IBM had some surprisingly great design at the time)
although, the PB100 series is pretty much the most iconic looking machine of the era
>>54420741
Oh, they're out there. They were popular with doctor's offices and can be snagged for really cheap on eBay.
