On other sides it also had pull-out LAN and check the keyboard. Full size arrow keys, decent spacing and a big fat Enter key. Miniaturization can make room for ergonomics.
I for one applaud the enter key and the "other than usb c/thunderbolt" connectivity. I never owned a fujitsu product, but it looks like I could in the near future.
I get that people do want other ports. For me, I want to have at least two type C connectors in the next laptop I buy since I tend to hold onto my laptops for a while (I'm still using a 2008 Macbook Pro).
I want USB-C ports as well. We have to push this forward. At most I want a single Type A port. Time to start buying the different cables and be done with this. Type C is so superior. Change is painful at times. We're getting to the "rip off the band-aid" moment.
Idiot proof is not superior. I know that people have a hard time thinking, and for many it is a challenge to figure which way the usb connector goes, but if we "solve" that, people will become even dumber absent those daily "challenges".
The C port is not superior technologically, it doesn't offer higher transfer rates or latency, it is not physically stronger, nor less prone to damage. it is just fool-proof and over-hyped, with the latter being mostly due to the price premium for C type peripherals and cables to A type plus the actual need to either replace hardware or buy additional clunky adapters.
So pardon my lack of excitement. Not that it is necessarily bad, I am OK with C type ports on devices as long as they aren't the only option, what's bad is that it is being forced for the sole purpose of more profits. Yeah, not the typical exemplary cattle here, eager to be milked, my priorities go a tad beyond "woot, new stuff therefore great, must buy and hype to feel smarter".
It also is designed for far greater versatility when paired with the pd 2 and alt modes. In the meantime, we'll have to deal with dongles, adaptors, and doohickeys.
So, I think the excitement is completely warranted since it is actually being taken up by a wide range of vendor types and the possibility of actually achieving a convergence for connector types on various ces is exciting.
1500 cycles isn't nothing - that's once a day for years. Furthermore, though I obviously haven't counted, several ancients phones friends still use (android 2 era) with batteries decrepit enough to require several loads a day have never once seen a port break through wear - so I'm not convinced that actual type A ports in current use actually have such a low endurance, despite the design aims.
Personally, I wouldn't mind a port that's symmetric, but it's going to be long & slow replacement - the improvements are simply too slight, and the switching costs non negligible. I'd guess there's a realistic chance type C never really catches on, if something new comes along soon enough.
Your anecdotal experiences, keep in mind I was responding to specific claims from derived. Also, imho, people didn't fixate on the symmetry of type c, but the NEW features it brings. That's the big deal, and that's why I'm glad to see the manufacturers moving fairly quickly towards its adoption. Unfortunately, not all industries are fully on board (notably TV/media devices). I'd really love to see HDMI either go away, or map their protocol to type c.
No one is going to get dumber, somehow losing intellect because they don't have to decide whether or not to flip over a cable's connector to plug an external device into a computer. If you honestly believe that the opposite is true, then maybe it's not everyone else that needs more daily challenges to their intellect.
Today you don't want to think how you plug it, tomorrow you will not want to think where you plug it. Naturally, losing the challenge of figuring out which way connector goes alone won't have a sizable impact, but it is not just it, it is a trend. You should be able to see how consumer technology is gradually shifting towards the "idiot friendly", walled garden, and really, even daycare center kind of paradigm, as is loses usability and versatility. And the effect of "that" kind of technology is exactly the reverse - people don't get more tech savvy, more capable, productive and intelligent but the full opposite of those.
I am actually worried seeing how incompetent people are in general, requiring paid support, which is often subpar, for even the smallest and simplest of things, because they can't figure it out. And the worst part is this is not some natural phenomenon, this is being inflicted to people, they are cultivated into dummies, because dummies are far more profitable.
That's a bit of a slippery slope argument. I don't think there's any evidence to support an argument that people are any dumber than they were in the past several thousand years. Kings exploited peasants before there were Blackberries and iPhones or USB Type-C connectors. I mean look at how easy it was for a handful of social elites that didn't want to pay taxes to the crown to rouse up a bunch of colonial settlers that were too poor to even have taxable income to fight and die for them only to establish a nation where the general population ended up subjected to those same taxes and there were loopholes for those elites. And people _still_ don't really quite have that figured out yet. The distribution of intelligence by percentage, I highly doubt, has changed overly much due to shifting technologies. We might be more effective at exploiting individuals (look at how many people use data mining services like Facebook, Twitter, and Google with narry a care in the world for the implications) and we might be able to reach more deeply into their everyday lives from a greater distance, but there'll always be a sizeable percentage of the population with lesser capability that will be expoited in a variety of ways by those of greater capacity.
Well, aside from the fact that tech progress has not been linear and one really doesn't need to look back more than half a century, even if we disregard that, I reckon an ignorant peasant a 1000 years ago knew more of all that is to know than an ignorant working class citizen does today. It is definitely not the same percentage, considering that 2500 years ago people knew FOUR states of matter - earth(solid), water(liquid), air(gas) and fire(plasma) whereas most of the people today can only, if lucky, list the first three.
Now it is true that today there is that much more to know, and that knowledge has been so compartmentalized that scientists which are considered prodigies in one field are clueless ignorants in all others, often to the point they are inapt in things as basic as human interaction. IMO that has to do with objectification of people, a social form that grows people into cogs, suitable for one specific task only. A scientist isn't really any smarter than a toiler scrubber, the thing is that the system need a particular number of scientists and a particular number of toilet scrubbers, so some people will be trained to be scientists, others will be trained (and socially handicapped) into being toilet scrubbers. Not to diminish the merits of being a scientist, but science has long not been about brilliant minds and eureka moments, but about combing the desert, brute force analytical research, where people don't do that much thinking as they do legwork, with scientific achievements being directly proportional to amounts of money you can put into it and amount of science cogs you can afford to produce.
So yeah, even the "smart" people of today are practically dumb, and I mean not really smart but perceived smart by those being stuck in the lower tiers of society. Which is why the fruits of their labor are being put into things that only exploit humanity instead of contributing to it, and all those "smart" people are piratically slaves to individuals that happen to be extremely dumb, greedy and evil.
Things are not definitely staying proportional. A 1000 years back people were not having any illusions that they are not being exploited, they were very much clear on where they stand. This is not the case today, where even though every working class citizens gets the shorter end of the deal, people manage to fool themselves that things are going just fine as long as the shorter end of the deal is not too short. The trend here is not linear either. There were very few people in the world a 1000 years ago, human population has exploded since the industrial revolution, but the planet is already running out of the cheap, abundant natural resources, needed to sustain huge populations, as well as running out of the need of that much labor force, which is all people are good for to the establishment. We are about to hit that point where people stop becoming a needed resource and turn into an unsustainable liability. This will happen 2-3 decades from now, this is the main reason while people are being rendered progressively dumber, so that they wouldn't put up a fight when they become redundant and obsolete, and if that trend doesn't reverse, humanity is in for a genocide that will make the worst of human history combined look like a walk in the park. One way or the other, the "human problem" will be solved, and while genocide is certainly the easiest approach, I for one would rather take the harder but more efficient approach, where humans stop being cattle and learn how to be people.
I am not refuting your very salient points, but I'm not so sure the USB-C connector is what is going to doom humanity, nor am I sure it's pushing us down the path towards genocide against humanity either. It's a more flexible connector that provides more utility than USB-A.
I guess I will take exception with one of your points. Even in the grim scenario you paint where humans have become unsustainable liabilities, those greedy corporate overlords still need customers. The ignorant masses will not become soylent green, because without them there is no commerce. Just my 2 cents.
Old ppl have a hard time with usb ports especially micro usb. They shove that cable backwards like its the only way to plug it in. So while for me its the same for other may not.
ISO enter key is of no interest to me (opposite really, it puts backslash somewhere I don't want it) but I can understand being happy with it if you use ISO layout :) Betting on ANSI for the US market though. The rest (ports and all) is definitely a good thing, for now at least. Type C I think is just going to become more attractive though, assuming one holds onto a notebook for a couple years at least
It's not about the fat key, but about attitude. Compare humble Fujitsu' keyboard and connectivity options with the sheer arrogance of Apple and it's compromises for the sake of design.
Difference in diameter, the thickness of the center pin, mostly difference in voltage. I've seen about 5 different voltages. I'd rather have a USB-C so I never have to worry about adapters.
Having legacy ports is nice at this point in time but not really needed (for me). I'd rather have more USB-C ports and move on.
That is all not "proprietary" though. The coax connector is available in many different OD/ID sizes, but not proprietary, unless they use a specifically changed connector (I've seen slit like inner pins that made it proprietary), which so far there is no evidence this one does (as was claimed in the first post I replied to). And different voltages are also not proprietary (though all laptops I've owned used 19V PSUs, though I have heard about some using 12V ones).
You wouldn't call "IEC 60320 Appliance couplers" proprietary, because they come in about 13 different sizes and aren't all able to use the same plugs. Same thing here.
I'm not disputing USB-C might be the superior option here, I was simply saying that as far as it looks, this is not a proprietary connector.
I have to say, it does look quite impressive. Adding to what everyone else has said (I'd be pretty happy with the ports), I think the dedicated trackpad buttons are a nice touch on a laptop this size; not necessarily for everyone, but I for one am a fan.
But nobody will like it if it's 1mm thicker. They should actually shave off another 1mm and but the battery in half. Who cares about battery life, right? lol
The price really is high, considering the specs - you really are paying for that form factor, and the bragging rights for being one of the lightest laptops around.
The 4GB as standard has to go. I now spend a lot of time running round to customers who use the web a lot as they are now all getting "low on memory" warnings when using Chrome or Firefox. 4GB doesnt really cut it anymore for windows.
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stanleyipkiss - Thursday, January 19, 2017 - link
Other manufacturers should take note here: two Type A USB, SD card reader and HDMI out. It's not that hard.id4andrei - Thursday, January 19, 2017 - link
On other sides it also had pull-out LAN and check the keyboard. Full size arrow keys, decent spacing and a big fat Enter key. Miniaturization can make room for ergonomics.ddriver - Thursday, January 19, 2017 - link
I for one applaud the enter key and the "other than usb c/thunderbolt" connectivity. I never owned a fujitsu product, but it looks like I could in the near future.ingwe - Thursday, January 19, 2017 - link
I get that people do want other ports. For me, I want to have at least two type C connectors in the next laptop I buy since I tend to hold onto my laptops for a while (I'm still using a 2008 Macbook Pro).bigboxes - Thursday, January 19, 2017 - link
I want USB-C ports as well. We have to push this forward. At most I want a single Type A port. Time to start buying the different cables and be done with this. Type C is so superior. Change is painful at times. We're getting to the "rip off the band-aid" moment.ddriver - Friday, January 20, 2017 - link
Idiot proof is not superior. I know that people have a hard time thinking, and for many it is a challenge to figure which way the usb connector goes, but if we "solve" that, people will become even dumber absent those daily "challenges".The C port is not superior technologically, it doesn't offer higher transfer rates or latency, it is not physically stronger, nor less prone to damage. it is just fool-proof and over-hyped, with the latter being mostly due to the price premium for C type peripherals and cables to A type plus the actual need to either replace hardware or buy additional clunky adapters.
So pardon my lack of excitement. Not that it is necessarily bad, I am OK with C type ports on devices as long as they aren't the only option, what's bad is that it is being forced for the sole purpose of more profits. Yeah, not the typical exemplary cattle here, eager to be milked, my priorities go a tad beyond "woot, new stuff therefore great, must buy and hype to feel smarter".
tuxRoller - Friday, January 20, 2017 - link
The type c connector has greater durability 10000 mating cycles vs 1500 for type a), designed to scale well beyond 10Gb, and it's smaller.http://www.anandtech.com/show/8377/usb-typec-conne...
It also is designed for far greater versatility when paired with the pd 2 and alt modes.
In the meantime, we'll have to deal with dongles, adaptors, and doohickeys.
So, I think the excitement is completely warranted since it is actually being taken up by a wide range of vendor types and the possibility of actually achieving a convergence for connector types on various ces is exciting.
emn13 - Friday, January 20, 2017 - link
1500 cycles isn't nothing - that's once a day for years. Furthermore, though I obviously haven't counted, several ancients phones friends still use (android 2 era) with batteries decrepit enough to require several loads a day have never once seen a port break through wear - so I'm not convinced that actual type A ports in current use actually have such a low endurance, despite the design aims.Personally, I wouldn't mind a port that's symmetric, but it's going to be long & slow replacement - the improvements are simply too slight, and the switching costs non negligible. I'd guess there's a realistic chance type C never really catches on, if something new comes along soon enough.
tuxRoller - Saturday, January 21, 2017 - link
Your anecdotal experiences, keep in mind I was responding to specific claims from derived.Also, imho, people didn't fixate on the symmetry of type c, but the NEW features it brings. That's the big deal, and that's why I'm glad to see the manufacturers moving fairly quickly towards its adoption.
Unfortunately, not all industries are fully on board (notably TV/media devices). I'd really love to see HDMI either go away, or map their protocol to type c.
BrokenCrayons - Friday, January 20, 2017 - link
No one is going to get dumber, somehow losing intellect because they don't have to decide whether or not to flip over a cable's connector to plug an external device into a computer. If you honestly believe that the opposite is true, then maybe it's not everyone else that needs more daily challenges to their intellect.ddriver - Friday, January 20, 2017 - link
Today you don't want to think how you plug it, tomorrow you will not want to think where you plug it. Naturally, losing the challenge of figuring out which way connector goes alone won't have a sizable impact, but it is not just it, it is a trend. You should be able to see how consumer technology is gradually shifting towards the "idiot friendly", walled garden, and really, even daycare center kind of paradigm, as is loses usability and versatility. And the effect of "that" kind of technology is exactly the reverse - people don't get more tech savvy, more capable, productive and intelligent but the full opposite of those.I am actually worried seeing how incompetent people are in general, requiring paid support, which is often subpar, for even the smallest and simplest of things, because they can't figure it out. And the worst part is this is not some natural phenomenon, this is being inflicted to people, they are cultivated into dummies, because dummies are far more profitable.
BrokenCrayons - Friday, January 20, 2017 - link
That's a bit of a slippery slope argument. I don't think there's any evidence to support an argument that people are any dumber than they were in the past several thousand years. Kings exploited peasants before there were Blackberries and iPhones or USB Type-C connectors. I mean look at how easy it was for a handful of social elites that didn't want to pay taxes to the crown to rouse up a bunch of colonial settlers that were too poor to even have taxable income to fight and die for them only to establish a nation where the general population ended up subjected to those same taxes and there were loopholes for those elites. And people _still_ don't really quite have that figured out yet. The distribution of intelligence by percentage, I highly doubt, has changed overly much due to shifting technologies. We might be more effective at exploiting individuals (look at how many people use data mining services like Facebook, Twitter, and Google with narry a care in the world for the implications) and we might be able to reach more deeply into their everyday lives from a greater distance, but there'll always be a sizeable percentage of the population with lesser capability that will be expoited in a variety of ways by those of greater capacity.ddriver - Friday, January 20, 2017 - link
Well, aside from the fact that tech progress has not been linear and one really doesn't need to look back more than half a century, even if we disregard that, I reckon an ignorant peasant a 1000 years ago knew more of all that is to know than an ignorant working class citizen does today. It is definitely not the same percentage, considering that 2500 years ago people knew FOUR states of matter - earth(solid), water(liquid), air(gas) and fire(plasma) whereas most of the people today can only, if lucky, list the first three.Now it is true that today there is that much more to know, and that knowledge has been so compartmentalized that scientists which are considered prodigies in one field are clueless ignorants in all others, often to the point they are inapt in things as basic as human interaction. IMO that has to do with objectification of people, a social form that grows people into cogs, suitable for one specific task only. A scientist isn't really any smarter than a toiler scrubber, the thing is that the system need a particular number of scientists and a particular number of toilet scrubbers, so some people will be trained to be scientists, others will be trained (and socially handicapped) into being toilet scrubbers. Not to diminish the merits of being a scientist, but science has long not been about brilliant minds and eureka moments, but about combing the desert, brute force analytical research, where people don't do that much thinking as they do legwork, with scientific achievements being directly proportional to amounts of money you can put into it and amount of science cogs you can afford to produce.
So yeah, even the "smart" people of today are practically dumb, and I mean not really smart but perceived smart by those being stuck in the lower tiers of society. Which is why the fruits of their labor are being put into things that only exploit humanity instead of contributing to it, and all those "smart" people are piratically slaves to individuals that happen to be extremely dumb, greedy and evil.
Things are not definitely staying proportional. A 1000 years back people were not having any illusions that they are not being exploited, they were very much clear on where they stand. This is not the case today, where even though every working class citizens gets the shorter end of the deal, people manage to fool themselves that things are going just fine as long as the shorter end of the deal is not too short. The trend here is not linear either. There were very few people in the world a 1000 years ago, human population has exploded since the industrial revolution, but the planet is already running out of the cheap, abundant natural resources, needed to sustain huge populations, as well as running out of the need of that much labor force, which is all people are good for to the establishment. We are about to hit that point where people stop becoming a needed resource and turn into an unsustainable liability. This will happen 2-3 decades from now, this is the main reason while people are being rendered progressively dumber, so that they wouldn't put up a fight when they become redundant and obsolete, and if that trend doesn't reverse, humanity is in for a genocide that will make the worst of human history combined look like a walk in the park. One way or the other, the "human problem" will be solved, and while genocide is certainly the easiest approach, I for one would rather take the harder but more efficient approach, where humans stop being cattle and learn how to be people.
ads295 - Saturday, January 21, 2017 - link
All you, sir, all you.And to think I wasn't even going to open this article...
fanofanand - Monday, January 23, 2017 - link
I am not refuting your very salient points, but I'm not so sure the USB-C connector is what is going to doom humanity, nor am I sure it's pushing us down the path towards genocide against humanity either. It's a more flexible connector that provides more utility than USB-A.I guess I will take exception with one of your points. Even in the grim scenario you paint where humans have become unsustainable liabilities, those greedy corporate overlords still need customers. The ignorant masses will not become soylent green, because without them there is no commerce. Just my 2 cents.
Michael Bay - Friday, January 20, 2017 - link
Literally please clap.SaolDan - Friday, January 20, 2017 - link
Old ppl have a hard time with usb ports especially micro usb. They shove that cable backwards like its the only way to plug it in. So while for me its the same for other may not.WorldWithoutMadness - Saturday, January 21, 2017 - link
Lol, that's JIS layout. If it were to be sold outisde of Japan, you'd get the normal layout. If you want that kind of big enter, just get ISO layoutMamiyaOtaru - Thursday, January 19, 2017 - link
ISO enter key is of no interest to me (opposite really, it puts backslash somewhere I don't want it) but I can understand being happy with it if you use ISO layout :) Betting on ANSI for the US market though. The rest (ports and all) is definitely a good thing, for now at least. Type C I think is just going to become more attractive though, assuming one holds onto a notebook for a couple years at leastid4andrei - Friday, January 20, 2017 - link
It's not about the fat key, but about attitude. Compare humble Fujitsu' keyboard and connectivity options with the sheer arrogance of Apple and it's compromises for the sake of design.cerberusss - Friday, January 20, 2017 - link
But still a proprietary power connector.Death666Angel - Friday, January 20, 2017 - link
As far as I see, this uses a standard barrel / coax power connector? I don't see anything proprietary about that.cerberusss - Friday, January 20, 2017 - link
I'd rather have it charge over USB-C.TheinsanegamerN - Friday, January 20, 2017 - link
lots of companies use barrel connectors, very few of them are compatible with one another.Death666Angel - Friday, January 20, 2017 - link
How so?hp79 - Friday, January 20, 2017 - link
Difference in diameter, the thickness of the center pin, mostly difference in voltage. I've seen about 5 different voltages. I'd rather have a USB-C so I never have to worry about adapters.Having legacy ports is nice at this point in time but not really needed (for me). I'd rather have more USB-C ports and move on.
Death666Angel - Saturday, January 21, 2017 - link
That is all not "proprietary" though. The coax connector is available in many different OD/ID sizes, but not proprietary, unless they use a specifically changed connector (I've seen slit like inner pins that made it proprietary), which so far there is no evidence this one does (as was claimed in the first post I replied to). And different voltages are also not proprietary (though all laptops I've owned used 19V PSUs, though I have heard about some using 12V ones).You wouldn't call "IEC 60320 Appliance couplers" proprietary, because they come in about 13 different sizes and aren't all able to use the same plugs. Same thing here.
I'm not disputing USB-C might be the superior option here, I was simply saying that as far as it looks, this is not a proprietary connector.
rev3rsor - Thursday, January 19, 2017 - link
I have to say, it does look quite impressive. Adding to what everyone else has said (I'd be pretty happy with the ports), I think the dedicated trackpad buttons are a nice touch on a laptop this size; not necessarily for everyone, but I for one am a fan.nerd1 - Thursday, January 19, 2017 - link
25Wh battery is a big joke. Add another 25Wh and the weight will be around 950gr, or on par with other ultralight laptops (LG and samsung)keeepcool - Friday, January 20, 2017 - link
The inside will be packed full, where do you put that extra battery? Glued to the display?TheinsanegamerN - Friday, January 20, 2017 - link
make it a whole 1mm thicker? It's not like that will break someone's back.hp79 - Friday, January 20, 2017 - link
But nobody will like it if it's 1mm thicker. They should actually shave off another 1mm and but the battery in half. Who cares about battery life, right? lolRo_Ja - Friday, January 20, 2017 - link
Only 4GB of ram on the Japanese variant? Come on!hp79 - Friday, January 20, 2017 - link
I agree, $1660 and it only comes with 4GB RAM? That really must be a joke.emn13 - Friday, January 20, 2017 - link
The price really is high, considering the specs - you really are paying for that form factor, and the bragging rights for being one of the lightest laptops around.jabber - Saturday, January 21, 2017 - link
The 4GB as standard has to go. I now spend a lot of time running round to customers who use the web a lot as they are now all getting "low on memory" warnings when using Chrome or Firefox. 4GB doesnt really cut it anymore for windows.Ro_Ja - Monday, January 23, 2017 - link
I agree. 8gb should be the bare minimum. My ASUS X550ZE runs so bad with 4gb of ram.