That window seat with the 14” laptop seems extremely claustrophobic.

That’s the real limitation on an economy flight - space rather than power or the internet… at least it would be for me.

The only times I was able to get my laptop out and do some productive work was when I either was sitting in premium economy isle seat with room to spare or when there was an empty seat next to me

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rootusrootus 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I'd probably choose the window seat myself, because while it is cramped, it is predictably so. When I sit in an aisle seat, it's not as cramped but I regularly get shoulder checked by passing people or beverage carts.

What really makes me nervous if I'm in an economy seat is the seat in front of me. Depending on how the seat is designed, if the person suddenly reclines (or hell, just flexes the seat a bunch while moving around), it can come pretty close to pinching the laptop screen. That would be bad news.

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ryandrake 3 hours ago | parent [-]

That was the first thing I thought of when I saw the image. That's a very expensive computer that you risk destroying when the 300lb guy in front of you decides to lean back.

The ergonomics of using a laptop on an economy-class tray table are not worth it. You're sitting there like a T-rex trying to make your arms as small as possible to tap on the keys. And the vertical viewing angle to your screen sometimes prevents you from even seeing anything. I wouldn't even bring my laptop out during a flight.

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sweetjuly 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

>The ergonomics of using a laptop on an economy-class tray table are not worth it. You're sitting there like a T-rex

The trick I've found is to pack a bluetooth keyboard. If you put your laptop on the tray table, you can put the bluetooth keyboard on your legs _under_ the tray table and have your arms fully and comfortably extended. This works especially well if you're a vim/emacs/other keyboard driven editor user as you very rarely need to reach up to poke the trackpad .

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walthamstow 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

In the image it's on his lap, not the tray table. I agree, using the tray is not worth it. The ideal is a tray that folds in half so I can use that to hold a drink and keep the machine on my lap.

The tradeoff of poor comfort is insane productivity, for me anyway. Being restricted in place, no wifi, inconvenient toilet breaks, not in control of meal times, all means I get a lot of work done

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Der_Einzige 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Obese people (250lb+) shouldn't even be allowed in Economy.

	▲	hansvm 2 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Maybe. On the other hand, in economy on some planes I just literally don't fit in a forward direction because of femur length and cycling muscles, I don't fit in a sideways direction either because of broad shoulders and arm muscles, and I don't comfortably fit vertically on some planes with fixed-position headrests which push into the middle of my shoulder blades and have me hunched the whole flight. I'm also not _that_ big. I'm 6'2" and have lived my life moderately actively. That's it. I'm biased, but I believe economy should be designed so that I can fit too. If you agree with that premise, that'd leave plenty of space for most 250lb people too, and there'd be no reason to exclude them.
	▲	0x1ch an hour ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		Man, I hate being rude because I myself weighed 230lbs once upon a time, I get it. I just dealt with a 200lb+ man who spread his legs past the arm rests. Pissed me off the whole flight because I had to contort my body in my own seat so he wasn't spilling into me.
	▲	zrail 2 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Sweet, free upgrades! Edit to be slightly less obtuse: surely you're not implying that a common carrier be allowed to discriminate based on facts about a passenger's body without making reasonable accommodations. Surely you're not implying that obese people not be allowed to fly at all. Surely you're not suggesting that fat people should just remove themselves from society so you don't have to deal with them. Therefore, obese people should get free upgrades to economy plus or better. Thanks for the idea!

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bs7280 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I have a 16" M1 Max that I only got because it was $1500 cheaper than MSRP, and it sucks on planes. I have really long arms and I can barely get it out of my bag without elbowing my neighbor.

A few years ago I saw some very interesting custom ergonomic setups optimized for traveling + flying.

One person with a thinkpad is able to get the monitor to be 180 degrees flat w/ the keyboard, and can hang it off the seat. He also brings a split ergo keyboard with a lap mount.

Another person did something similar with a M1 laptop, but needs an Ipad to act as the external monitor (laptop stays in bag) with a built and designed from scratch split ergo keyboard.

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zdw 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

That's a 16" (from the size of the speaker grille on each side of the keyboard), so even more claustrophobic.

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stavros 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I got some Xreal glasses and it's made flights so much more enjoyable. I can watch movies or work on something lying back, and the "screen" looks massive.

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JSR_FDED 3 hours ago | parent [-]

I’ve been so tempted but some of the reviews say it’s not good for reading code. What’s been your experience? What is the effective resolution of the screen you get? Is it sharp enough for coding?

	▲	garethsprice 31 minutes ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Currently working on an Amtrak with XReal One Pro glasses and a ThinkPad bluetooth keyboard from my Macbook Pro that is folded up in the seat pocket. They are "OK enough" that it will be a matter of taste if they are acceptable or not at this point for you to use. For coding they work fine for me, terminal tools work particularly well as I can bump the font size up. IDEs and web browsing aren't bad either, it's about the equivalent of a single 1080p screen. They are nicer than hunching over a laptop for travel use but I still prefer a proper monitor when available. The optics are a generation or two from being where they need to be to market these as productivity devices, but if you like being an early adopter with all the quirks that come with it, they're fun.
	▲	SkyPuncher 2 hours ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		They're like reading a projector. It's not very good, but it's better than awkwardly staring at the computer screen.
	▲	mrbonner 2 hours ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		Don’t listen to anyone saying it is fine for reading or writing extensively with the xReal. I have one and it is PITA to do that over a long period. You better just stick with watching videos or playing games with it.
	▲	stavros 3 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		It's a definite "it depends". The resolution is fine, but I think it's more about the specific pair of glasses you get? I got the same model three times (long story), and the first two were fine, the third has some blurring in the middle of the right eye. It's also uncomfortable to look at the very bottom of the screen (which is where all the chat text boxes are), so I usually resize all my windows to be a bit smaller. With that, it's very good (and you can always just increase the font size). I would like glasses with smaller fov, so I didn't have to look around so much, but that's probably just me, since everyone else likes them larger.