(Just piggybacking on your Microsoft hate thread, choad. Hope that's okay.)


I didn't know it was possible to earn a 0/10 rating. I do know that it's been a couple of years now since I used any Microsoft product (and I LOVE my Linux, Mint), and my life is notably better for it. These clowns would go down in a minute if they actually had to build a business instead of piggybacking on successful moves from a generation back.

A teardown of Microsoft’s new Surface laptop reveals that it’s almost impossible to repair

‘It’s a glue-filled monstrosity’



We really liked Microsoft’s new Surface Laptop: it’s got the right balance of power, portability, and design. It’s also apparently impossible to repair on your own, according to teardown specialists at iFixit.

There’s no screws holding the case together, so the technicians were forced to try and pry apart the Alcantara fabric, noting that it was difficult to do without tearing it. Underneath, the individual components are also difficult to remove: the keyboard is glued down, and the motherboard is covered with a series of thermal pads. The team also reports that they can’t disconnect the battery until several other components are removed, and once they get to it, they found that it’s glued directly to the case.

Microsoft’s Surface computers have never scored particularly well when it comes to repairability — look no further than its Surface Book from a couple of years ago, which scored a 1/10 rating. This new computer scores even worse: 0/10. iFixit reports that the laptop isn’t designed to be repaired, and users can’t upgrade individual components like the CPU, Ram or storage because they’re soldered to the motherboard.

Their verdict? “It’s a glue-filled monstrosity. There is nothing about it that is upgradable or long-lasting, and it literally can’t be opened without destroying it.”

https://www.theverge.com/2017/6/17/1582 … ble-repair

Baywolfe wrote:

Pretty much any laptop or tablet these days is meant to be thrown away, not repaired or upgraded.

That's A market, but certainly not the only market. I would never knowingly buy a disposable computer. The laptop I'm typing this on has had a new screen, a new keyboard, upgraded ram, and a new and larger HDD when the first one failed. I expect I'll keep it running indefinitely unless I dump a cup of coffee on the keyboard and fry the motherboard or something. A new computer wouldn't give me any new capability that I want, and that's actually been true for a long, long time. In my view, computers keep getting faster and more powerful, and the additional power goes into running processes which I don't want to run, and which (until I dumped MS) I can't turn off.

I've broken out of the planned obsolescence cycle where I have to buy new computers (I currently have four) every time Microsoft launches a new operating system. For my purposes (mostly web browsing, mail and media) I'm quite happy with older hardware -- now that I've found a workable non-Microsoft operating system (I use Linux, Mint -- but there is a growing number of impressive Linux desktop operating systems these days).

I'm still actively prowling garage sales looking for computers which were designed to run XP or Vista, but don't have enough power for Windows 10, for example, but which do everything I need. And I can pick them up for the price of lunch, and I can keep them running forever for a few bucks a year. I don't expect I'll ever buy another new computer, and I'd never buy one where I couldn't crack the case and replace worn out parts.

But that's me.