> A much larger laptop with less than half the number of display pixels is not really the same market. And how's that battery life?

Yes, the display isn't as good but the Neo with 512 GB of storage is already $700 and has half the storage of the other laptop. The Neo also has 8 GB of RAM vs 32 GB. Big differences IMO.

Battery life is "good enough" but not great. It really depends on what you're using it for. If you're doing CPU bound tasks a lot, it's not going to last as long. I guess a takeaway is I was never in a situation where I had to change my behaviors because of the battery life. Unless you're planning to be out in the middle of no where without a power bank for an extended period time doing workload intensive tasks it's fine.

Likewise, the display being only 1080p isn't as bad as you would think. I'd be surprised if anyone is running their 13" Neo at 2408 x 1506 at native scaling. That would be 219 PPI. For reference I run a 4k 32" monitor at native 1:1 scaling and that's 138 PPI. It would be bonkers to consider using 219 PPI from a normal viewing distance. Most scaled resolutions with the Neo would be effectively 1080p resolution but with sharper text.

▲

kube-system a day ago | parent | next [-]

What you’re missing is that the target market for this devices — the casual laptop user — DGAF about memory or storage if it is at the expense of the directly observable user experience.

Few people want or need 32gb of RAM, nor give a shit about what it even means. Most people just want to run MS Word and Google Chrome and maybe TurboTax.

▲

nickjj 21 hours ago | parent [-]

Sure but if people want a device for only casual browsing and are ok with 256 GB of storage and 8 GB of memory they can get a Chromebook for half the price of the Neo. Not all of them are bad, there's tons in the $300 range with good enough specs for casual usage.

If you want to spend ~$600-700, the laptop I mentioned fits the bill for casual use, a development workstation, media editing and casual gaming at a directly comparable price to the Neo. I replied initially because you wrote nothing good exists in the $600-700 range.

▲

kube-system 17 hours ago | parent [-]

Again, this device isn’t someone who’s buying based on specs. Nor is it for somebody who’s buying based on price.

It’s for somebody who goes to the store, puts their hands on the keyboard, uses the touchpad, looks at the screen, and feels the chassis, and then makes their decision. This is how regular people purchase these commodity items. Most people have no clue what the difference between storage and memory is. They just want to know: will it run [software]? That’s all the specs they need to know. Maybe the battery life as well

If you haven’t already go put your hands on one of these at the store. There’s no $600 laptop that feels like it.

	▲	nickjj 12 hours ago \| parent [-]
		> It’s for somebody who goes to the store, puts their hands on the keyboard, uses the touchpad, looks at the screen, and feels the chassis, and then makes their decision. We might live in different areas of the world. Every person I know who isn't into tech has never walked into a store by themselves and bought a laptop based on feel or a hunch. They always get a recommendation from someone who is into tech, either for a specific model to buy online or someone to go with in real life at a store to help them make a purchase. I don't blame them either, I wouldn't make a big purchase with no information and trust the sales floor to give high quality personalized advice.

▲

robotresearcher a day ago | parent | prev [-]

> If you're doing CPU bound tasks a lot

You're not in the market for a netbook-type machine if this is the case.

> but with sharper text.

Text huh? Sounds important.

> Battery life is "good enough" but not great.

So, do you want a lightweight client / light productivity machine with tons of battery life, great text, and a kickass trackpad? Or an affordable workstation replacement? Different markets.