2016 and Beyond: What are we missing in laptops/notebooks?

http://www.overclock.net/t/1576426/...-vrm-insanely-low-temps-must-have-recommended
Fairly large drop in temps

 

3M Novec 7000 solution inside the heatpipes/heatsink

Would this work?

The heat capacity is 30x-40x greater than water and it boils at 37-38 degrees celcius

Freezes at -200C

 

A few suggestions:

1) Stop including 'recovery' partitions on laptops, but write a UEFI interface driver that can connect to the Internet and download Windows from a repository. Occasionally Windows will 'blow up' (ie: become unbootable/unusable), and when on the road, the only way to 'recover' from this is to carry around some re-installation media (ie: a USB stick).

2) Hardware-level feedback concerning the efficiency of the cooling system. The hardware knows roughly what its consuming watts-wise. The hardware knows the temperature. The hardware knows how fast the fan is running. The hardware should be able to put these variables together and basically tell the user if the system believes there's a condition or a malfunction with the heatsink (ie: its plugged with dust / coated with tobacco tar / vents are blocked, etc.).

It should be able to log this to a management console, as well. So the IT guy knows and can come around with a can of compressed air and blow it out. Thermal de-rate events should be logged as well.

3) An optimized GPS antenna should be included rather than just relying upon the same antenna wires as used for 4G LTE. Which are certainly not amplified and are not tuned for the specific GPS/Glonass frequencies. Many 4G LTE WWAN solutions already come with a dedicated port for a GPS antenna. I personally retrofitted such an antenna into an old Dell Latitude D830 which definitely improved GPS system performance.

4) Dual-SIM options for WWAN. Many popular cell phones now have dual-SIM options. Why not WWAN for computers? Many business travelers might use one carrier domestically, and another carrier when they're overseas. Software (both on Windows, as well as in the BIOS setup) should allow them to switch between a certain SIM reader being active or another. Perhaps based on the GPS location when controlled by Windows-based software.

5) Vibrating feedback capability. Our cell phones and tablets vibrate. Why not include such in a laptop? Laptops don't need HDDs anymore, so protecting the HDD's integrity is no longer an excuse.

6) BIOS/firmware based 'counts' for insertions on the USB/Video/docking ports/power, as well as total run-time hours. Many of these ports are only rated for a finite number of cycles, and it can be useful to know how many times they've been used over the cumulative life of the laptop.

7) Integration of WLAN radios and antennas in the screen case itself. This will reduce the mess of antennas running from the screen through the hinges. The only thing that would have to run from the base to the hinges would be the high speed data connection for DisplayPort and the power lines associated with such, over which the connectivity for the WLAN could run as well.

8) Make the CMOS battery optional and failure of such graceful. In most laptops and even desktop PC's I'm aware of, they do not run gracefully and well without the CMOS battery, or with the CMOS battery depleted. With integrated GPS the time can be figured out anyways, so no need for a battery-backed RTC.

 

ErikO that is the single most confusing thing to me why we can't implement this design on more/all devices. In tune with that, here's my rapid fire thoughts:

1. Hello world, we've been using the same exact cable for the last like 30 years on desktops, monitors and other peripheral devices. Even laptop power bricks use it on the Outlet > Brick connection. No brainer, should be the same thing on a laptop. Duh.

2. Build a small pop-up panel next to the touchpad where a micro SD slot, usb and other small ports can fit anything that would go in there and stay in there with the door closed. Why are we still wasting 2" of space for a full size SD slot on laptops?
3. Either in place or or next to the touchpad, a dock built into the laptop seamlessly for a full fledged smartphone/phablet. Removable and fully integrated with the laptop OS. So I can game, but browse NBR between matches on the phone (yet type with the keyboard on the laptop if preferred). Also, the dock should be able to display the phone screen on the laptop monitor for running bluestacks style on the desktop. Candy Crush 4K. lol.
4. Make the laptop screen a touch screen with a digitizer pen somewhere available on the laptop (already done on many devices like M$ Surface) - and - put a sliding cover built into the laptop that covers the keyboard. Now I can't accidentally type while drawing graphics/illustrations during game design sessions. Then I can slide the cover again (touchpad integrated in cover perhaps?) and play games that I just designed.

 

Please!

Add more adobeRGB 100% displays with great brightness!

Better cooling

more displays that can go above 60fps as far as refresh rate is concerned

Modularity. Come on. We need modules. I'm fed up with having to upgrade an entire machine. Let's just stick with a single connector type and use it for everything. It can't be that hard. And we all would make more money. Let's make laptops akin to small desktops!

Oh! Better keyboards! Please! This is a must!

 

i'd like to see the return of 18+ inch laptops.
something like that edge to edge display on one of the dell laptops would be nice (i think it was called infinity edge)
more mechanical keyboards definitly more open bio'ses and socketed components on the upper teir notebooks.

 

Moar 14" displays. 13,3" ones are useless for any type of serious work and 15" ones don't travel as easily.

 

A 17% difference makes it "useless for any type of serious work"?

 

There is always a limit before things become useless. The limit is probably 14 inches for him. For me... 17 inches

 

Everything can be useful, though I don't generally use anything bellow 17" nowadays for work, but I would love a tablet to write while I can't use my laptop. Like when going in a bus! Or when out and about and have some free time or a burst of inspiration.

Every size has it's uses for sure, but having a small display can be painful for eyes... Even more if used as a daily computer.

 

Height adjustable legs in the rear part of the laptop, just like the ones on any common keyboard.

This really should have happened already - I see a lot of people using whatever makeshift stuff they have to raise their laptops a bit from the far edge of the undertray.

Spoiler

 

The problem with that is I've broke the ones that were part of a laptop cooler due to being heavy handed, so I wouldn't trust them to use them.

I carry around two of these in my laptop bag...

 

Let's wish for better Clevo driver servers!

 

Two soda-bottle caps and blue tack - does the job and 100% reversible.

 

I wonder why keyboard manufacturers haven't thought of that...


PPS plastic would be ideal for that purpose tho. Couldn't break it if you wanted to.

 

I always but always carry a pair of these with me:

 

I, on the other hand, put my infinite creativity into good use and concocted this clever little contraption with some Lego bricks:

 

I don't know if this is mentioned butmight as well say it.

Wireless charging on laptops...if they are doing it in Smartphones, why not laptops?

Then again, the wireless charging still needs more improvement. But I can hope.

 

I want to be able to position a laptop's screen at near eye level. Some sort of height adjustment based on a telescoping arm for example.

 

Laptops that work and come without broken components.

Services that repair laptops well and don't leave scratches ...

 

Your table would catch fire trying to charge your Clevo P670RS and your hands would melt along with your mouse.

How about we start with Chromebooks and Ultrabooks, that would work easily... say at schools and uni's (assuming people werent beating the tables day and night with their books, cups and etc)

 

Low noise fans... come ON, I know they CAN build better fans with less noice emitions for portable beasts that push the hardware...

 

Not to mention how inefficient wireless power generally is. Not the greenest of solutions...


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Not sure if this was mentioned, but one thing I would like to see is modular batteries. I know these do exist but it seems like lately companies have strayed away. Imagine a hot-swap battery.

 

Have you heard about the X270?

"Lenovo claims the new X270 will deliver more than “20 hours of run time” due to its “dual configurable battery architecture.” In other words, the X270 features two removable batteries and each battery is available in a standard 3-cell (23Wh) capacity and the rear battery is also available in two varieties of 6-cell extended life capacities (48Wh or 72Wh)."​

( http://www.notebookreview.com/news/new-lenovo-thinkpads-ces/)

 

Gonna post in both threads, so some of this is double-tapping.

1. one product number, one motherboard. No, I don't mean how MSI likes to add 63 alpha-numerics to each product. A GT60 is a GT60; all models under that use the same motherboard & power supply. New motherboard, new model number. Any other suffixes should only refer to stuff like GPU, RAM, display, etc. Mobo/PSU= same for everything. X15; same thing. P35X; same thing. No more wondering about if you have the right screw-holes, bios version number, etc. (for example, right now, there's at least about 6 different GT60 mobos out there--and they're all different & incompatible with each other). It's unrealistic to think this can happen across different manufacturers...but it's not at all unrealistic to ask it from WITHIN the manufacturer.

2. Plug/play, snap-on surge protector. Affixes seamlessly to the input on the power brick & adapts to 120/240v. Eliminates the need to have a separate surge protector. Can be easily replaced from the manufacturer.

3. While we're at it, what about just increasing the brick to include the PSU & the battery? This will save weight, thin the laptop, and improve cooling. Or at the very least, put a tiny, 5m battery supply in the laptop & save the long-term battery for the brick.

4. Keyboard backlighting needs more options than currently. Per-key moddability is nice, but that's fleeting. What about adding some other functions? Like auto-dimming the keyboard when the display is dimmed?

5. Removable, reusable micro-filtration filter over the air intake port. This would help cut down on all the gunk that accumulates over time--improving laptop longevity. Making this easy to remove/replace & having it able to be cleaned via water/etc.

6. 2x sliding displays. A 3" thick laptop wouldn't really bother me if it had 3x, 4k displays...two which slide out of either side of the main display (and angle forward ~15 degrees). Serious, desktop-replacements only. But it would all but invalidate the usual complaints about laptop displays being too small compared to their desktop counterparts. Another idea? Hinge the laptop on the short end. Now you can have 3x VERTICAL displays on your laptop.

7. 16x10 laptops/displays. Because menu bars + 16:9 = 16:10. Stop the chicanery & give us back 16:10...it's a closer fit to the golden rectangle anyways.

8. LED indicators for Capslock, Numlock, etc; no more of these annoying "flags" that manufactuers like to have pop on screen in lieu of simple LED's (gigabyte, I'm looking at you).

9. Smaller palm rests. Move the keyboard closer to the front. Use the back for "wi-fi on/off", volume up/down, display brightness, etc hard buttons (thus eliminating the fn hotkeys for them). Or if we HAVE to have the hotkeys, can we standardize them & have them make sense? MSI's up/down for brightness & left/right for sound....makes great sense. Gigabytes f3/43 and f8/f9 makes me have to look at the keyboard every time i try to do it.

10. If we can't kill the touchpad altogether, move it. Put it on the extreme right and shrink it. Put the buttons to the left/right of the touchpad so that you can reduce the size of the palm-rest. And bring back the "gridding" on the extreme right of the touchpad. My old HP Pavilion DV5000 from 2005 had that, and it worked like a champ for scrolling. I've yet to use any touchpad that could do that function easier/better.

11. Another button you can put above the keyboard; GPU switcher. Manually switch between integrated & discreet GPU, no software buffoonery.

12. Make "flashy" an option, not a requirement. Lazers & spinners should be available for the pre-pubescent 12 year olds out there. For those like me, the "sleeper" look is better. Plus I don't want to bring my all-purpose laptop to work & have to explain the fancy doo-dads that make it look like I sent my laptop to "pimp my ride" in the Barrio.

13. Continuing in that vein, how about user-modifiable lid color/designs? We already have LCD glass. Imagine being able to set your lid so it displays your favorite color whenever the laptop is on. Something simple (at least at first)--solid colors only. Sure there would be a premium on the price...but I'm sure that feature will appeal to many people.

14. If I HAVE to have a lighted company logo on my lid...can we move it to the corner?

15. If I HAVE to have stickers on my laptop, can we make it so the manufactuer only puts them on the UNDERSIDE of the chassis? That way it's like a VIN number; it's there when you look for it...but it's not emblazoned across the door/hood.

16. Global model sales. None of this crap with 1 for the USA, 1 for the UK, etc. I recently found an MSI I wanted--only to my dismay it wasn't even available in the states; only the UK. I get that there's keyboard variations, etc--but there's ZERO reason to offer different components beyond region-specific keyboards. (I still can't find a GT62 with 1070 GPU & 4k display in the USA; but it's on amazon.uk as I type).

17. Slider over the camera. Let's just make this easy. No tape. No post-it notes. Just a simple opaque slider that you can cover the camera with when not in use. Never worry about secret hacking/snooping again.

18. Recessed audio jack. If the 1/8" jack were partially recessed & at an angle, headphones with straight plugs will have less chance of breaking off in the port (especially if it faces the front).

 

Just my opinions on a few of these ideas. Not arguing, just playing devil's advocate.

3. What? I like not having to carry the power brick - if that contains the main battery, it's heavy AND I need it at all times. No thanks.

6. There was an old Lenovo Workstation model that did this (W700ds has two screens). I'm guessing sales were very weak which is why it was discontinued.

 

I'd actually go for a solution that encompasses both. Decent sized battery in the system and then the option of a brick that contains another battery for extra power even when you don't have an outlet. Not like a default brick that's like that but something you could select when you bought one.

 

Sounds like a slice battery combined with the PSU?

I get that not all notebooks have a connector for a slice battery, but given mine does (and the power brick is already massive), I'd rather have the slice battery as a standalone option (so I don't have to carry the power brick weight around for no reason).

Again, just my perspective on the matter.

 

Ask and ye shall receive!

(Stolen from another thread)

I think the power adaptor is just their external battery and a 45w adaptor (with usb charging too!) built in, and it's modular.



It says 12,800MAH on the xps13 2-in-1 page for it: "Its 2-in-1 design lets you carry the 45W AC adapter or the 12800 mAh power bank or both modules for uninterrupted power at your desk and on the go." http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/productdetails/xps-13-9365-2-in-1-laptop

 

Dell is innovating again!

 

Neat, I didn't know that was actually a thing.

 

I think someone has been listening too us.

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Razer is crap quality they have cool ideas but have quality issues. Just look at the rbp thread....

 

Oh I'm well aware. Though its interesting to see someone picking up and putting R&D into some of the things we have been tossing around the threads.

 

I'm kind of loving that the two ideas I took issue with enough to comment on were both announced today...how often does that happen?

 

Not often. Lol though I think they are starting to feel crowded so they are trying to make things to differentiate again.

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Commented there lol

It might be handy, but we need 100% adobe RGB and 450nits luma on the display before multiple displays.

 

Yeah, i was about to post about project Valerie. Too bad it's still only a prototype. And it needs to be available in 15". And I'd guess by the time that happens, we'll have a mobile GPU that can run a 3x 4k display without overheating in a 15" chassis. And I'm willing to drop 3 grand on it, so there.

http://www.pcmag.com/news/350826/razers-project-valerie-laptop-includes-3-4k-displays

 

Like their super glossy " non reflective" display on the new pro.... That turns yellow in the corners

 

As to all the other "alternatives" the guy mentions in that video--NONE of them is good enough. I don't want to have to pack display stands for additional monitors--and those wouldn't fold down to a compact travel-size with my laptop. I don't want to use VR headsets for hours and hours on end, and with the games I use--that would require a headset nearly as heavy as a Virtual Boy.

3x screens that fold/slide into one...is perfect. I can't believe the Troglodytes that poo-poo'd that video on youtube. Dirty philistines.

 

What do you mean?

Not on date with all the news

 

?

 

I'd accidentally break that inside 30 seconds, guaranteed.

 

Lol. I'd be the same. I'm surprised they let Linus in the same room as it.

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Note, you didn't see him leave the room. He may have been the last reviewer to have it intact.

 

I also question their durability.

I mean... how does it work? The hinges are supposed to hold all the weight? Laptop hinges right now might have problems with the weight of one display, none to mention 3 displays.

But as I said in the video comments section

First things to give us:

100% adobeRGB
450nits luma
4K display
75Hz refresh rate and good response times
IPS
no screen burn in.

After they manage all those for one display, I would need 3 dusplays to do coding and to do adopbe PS and adobe AE on them. but only after all of those things are met.

 

I see something like that being a true desktop replacement, like a "This stays in one place most of its life but I could move it with less trouble than a desktop if I absolutely had to move it" machine.

As for the stats, might be waiting a while, I don't even think you can check all those boxes in external screens yet (can probably do 3-4 of them) and I'm sure external screens will be there long before notebook screens.

 

You're totally right there XD

Well, I guess that if moving between two places, it's much more optimal to just buy two good external displays and be done with it.

Really want a larger adobeRGB coevare display and a larger one with a higher resolution one!!! working on a laptop display is not optimal, especially for my type of work

 

Agreed. Laptop size displays are not good for visual work, and higher resolution like 4K on such a small screen causes more problems than it solves. Better to have a very nice external.