Developers, developers, developers, developers

I'll definitely be looking for a laptop that has expandable memory, that's for sure.. but yeah, I'm definitely looking at a laptop with 8 GB RAM so I can do more for sure. I'd also wish to have a laptop with a good processor that doesn't heat up easily or have fans running on high just from opening Skype and an internet browser.

ZachLMedia said:

I'll definitely be looking for a laptop that has expandable memory, that's for sure.. but yeah, I'm definitely looking at a laptop with 8 GB RAM so I can do more for sure. I'd also wish to have a laptop with a good processor that doesn't heat up easily or have fans running on high just from opening Skype and an internet browser.

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With a ULV Core i5, it's more of a question of the cooling system's efficiency and aggressiveness.

So last night I was talking screen resolutions and device usage with someone, and I had complained how 1366x768 was small, but they disagreed.. so then I told that I've adjusted to working with a 1920x1080 resolution and that whenever I go to work on my laptop I feel "confined" to the small resolution of my laptop since I use my desktop way more.

As for my tablet, though, it's 1920x1200.

ZachLMedia said:

So last night I was talking screen resolutions and device usage with someone, and I had complained how 1366x768 was small, but they disagreed.. so then I told that I've adjusted to working with a 1920x1080 resolution and that whenever I go to work on my laptop I feel "confined" to the small resolution of my laptop since I use my desktop way more.

As for my tablet, though, it's 1920x1200.

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Hehe, to me, the screen resolution means absolutely nothing. I'm more interested in available screen area, aspect ratio, PPI, and relative item size.

Really, I can't live with anything narrower than 15:9 these days - I feel 15:9 is a better "compromise" than 16:10 or 3:2 with regard to 4:3 and 16:9. 16:10 already feels unusually narrow and cramped and sometimes give me an uneasy feeling.

If I'm working on a laptop or desktop, I would expect a screen size of at least 14" for it to be useful and not too straining. If it is a 16:9 screen and 1366x768, it would be a display of about 110 pixels per inch. In the world of desktop computing, the PPI is perfectly usable with items a 100% scaling, so you have zero compatibility issues. I can work with 133 PPI 10" 1366x768 screens at 1:1 in a pinch, but usually I have a bit of a harder time working for longer periods.

If the PPI goes anything above about 135, I'd want scaling, but in Windows they don't work too well - I don't like non-integer scaling, so I'd end up needing at least 192 PPI and a minimum effective screen resolution of 1280x720 (which would make the display 2560x1440 if we're doing 2:1 pixel scaling). Any PPI lower than 96 PPI looks grainy to me; anything higher than about 135 at my usual viewing distance (usually 1.25x the long side of the display) needs scaling.

It's a bit complex. I certainly find a 15" 1366x768 display significantly more useful than a 7" 1920x1200 display, if only because you have more physical area to work with. :)

I guess you're right about the pixels per inch value, Twiggy.. so I guess it just takes some time getting used to, since I don't really use my laptop much anymore these days.

If I began using my laptop more, then my eyes probably wouldn't feel as confined to a smaller resolution. Back last year, I was using my laptop more since I didn't have a desktop that ran Windows 7 (my old desktop ran XP), and that's why it felt different to me.

Using a laptop and only a laptop tends to change your perceptions in a big way. You start to learn to make full use of the limited physical screen area. You begin to take advantage of automatic window management features. You begin to take advantage of scaling out content slightly. You begin to use applications that can hide unnecessary toolbars. And you do all of them while you have things stay readable.

Microsoft's default UI experience for a lot of desktop apps in the Windows 8/late Windows 7 era actually work very well with regard to this. So clean, so thin... I don't mind using only a single row for both address and tabs as I have made sure that it can show 4 tabs at full size maximized. This leaves ample space for the address bar; it's long enough to display most domain names in full (not the complete path).

And sometimes you don't want the spacing to get too tight. Sometimes you want things to go the opposite way. Take the Zune media player that you can install separately. It's not an Excel spreadsheet music player, so it's already more usable for me in terms of user experience. Every thing in the player does something that you would expect it to do, is responsive, and world really well with common audio formats. I also like how near and cleanly organized every single view is.

I'm actually also a fan of the Ribbon in Office and many parts of Windows. It enhances discovery a lot and it's much easier for me to work with them, as well as them being easily hidden and shown when needed helps a lot, especially with tablet screens where you get a lot more padding for good reason.

I just bought this for my Nexus 7 so I can use it like a mini-laptop.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E9QDP0I/ref=pe_385040_30332200_pe_309540_26725410_item

I can't wait to get it and review it, omg! :D I should get it next week.

And yes, Twiggy, I love the Surface tablets :P But I gotta have Android xD

That really seems like a cool thing to have with my Nexus that's for sure, and the price is good for now.. but too bad that I don't have the money to own one of those now >__> and it's on sale too :(

I'm finding a lot of use for the Touch Cover myself.

While tablet keyboards are surely becoming a thing, I still don't think they'll be enough to replace laptops entirely. The only real use though for a tablet keyboard for me is if I'm on the go away from home and I want to type something swiftly without the need to bring my laptop. Other than that, I'm just as fine using Swype to get something typed up on my tablet.

I'm one of these people that would rather have as much screen space as he can.

Doubling as a cover is nice, too.

Usually I use the touch keyboard while I'm outside with my Surface and there tends to not that many flat surfaces for the cover to work. When it does, however, I find it very convenient to be able to type normally.

Hey ^^
I'm here Zach!

Tablet keyboards are great in general, but since people are most used to laptop keyboards etc, it'll take a while for people to get used to tablet keyboards.

I tend to use the Touch Cover as a cover and a grip assist more.

I tend to use my Touch Cover as a literal cover more often than not, but it comes in very handy when you want to work in Office.

It's also much nicer to hold compared to bare metal.

Typhon said:

Hey ^^
I'm here Zach!

Tablet keyboards are great in general, but since people are most used to laptop keyboards etc, it'll take a while for people to get used to tablet keyboards.

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Oh definitely.. considering that not many people use keyboards with their tablet, it will definitely be a gradual, if any move at all before people regularly begin to use tablet keyboards.

♪Twiggy♪ said:

I tend to use my Touch Cover as a literal cover more often than not, but it comes in very handy when you want to work in Office.

It's also much nicer to hold compared to bare metal.

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Doesn't the Surface/Surface RT's touch cover also come with a touchpad? If it does, then you've essentially turned it into a laptop pretty much :P

ZachLMedia said:

Doesn't the Surface/Surface RT's touch cover also come with a touchpad? If it does, then you've essentially turned it into a laptop pretty much :P

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Try taking a beefy, conventional multimedia's laptop and twist it all the way around. You can't. (I won't cover your repair bills.)

(You can bring a tablet much closer to you, and use it without having somewhere to put it on - perfect in public transport or when on the move.)

Uy, it's Patch Tuesday this upcoming Tuesday, so that means updates! updates! updates!

Ever since I've had my Windows 7 desktop, I've been actively updating it automatically to ensure it stays very secure. WHile I'm not saying the updates are a bad thing, sometimes it just annoys me to wake up and see my computer at the login screen and having to reopen all my programs :P

ZachLMedia said:

Uy, it's Patch Tuesday this upcoming Tuesday, so that means updates! updates! updates!

Ever since I've had my Windows 7 desktop, I've been actively updating it automatically to ensure it stays very secure. WHile I'm not saying the updates are a bad thing, sometimes it just annoys me to wake up and see my computer at the login screen and having to reopen all my programs :P

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Hehe.

Windows 8 is smart enough to be very patient and will hold it off for 3 days... and if you're not there when it's time to restart, it gives you 15 more minutes after you log in. If there's anything running and/or there's the possibly of unsaved data, it'll hold off restarts.

I rarely using Windows Updates lol
I did update my Windows on my early days when using my laptop, but I have giving up on it because there are so many of them, I don't think my internet connection might pull it off. Regardless of it, I think updating Windows is nice.

Wind Heart said:

I rarely using Windows Updates lol
I did update my Windows on my early days when using my laptop, but I have giving up on it because there are so many of them, I don't think my internet connection might pull it off. Regardless of it, I think updating Windows is nice.

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GO UPDATE YOUR LAPTOP NOW.

No, seriously.

You'll thank me later. Updates are not something to be ignored wily-nily.

I have just checked, that last time I'm updating my Windows was on February 7th, 2010. Boy, I must have left my Windows outdated for a really long time lol