After your Twitter reply here are my thoughts about the perfect laptop.
Thinkpads
IMO, the best laptops ever created and MoMA is with me at this. However, after a long discussion with colleagues they could be improved with some small changes.
Arrow keys
They should be fully sized, even if that requires to enlarge the keyboard area a bit more, as currently most laptops (i.e. Thinkpads) enlarge the bottom edge a bit. The same applies to key such as PgUp and PgDn.
Fn keys
Unlike most Thinkpad users, my call is that fn button should be right to ctrl button as most users are used to that.
Touchpad and numerical keyboard
The touchpad should be horizontally centered and there should be no numerical keyboard on a laptop, as it biases both the touchpad and the rest of the keyboard to the left, and therefore it promotes bad muscular habits.
Ideally, a touchpad without buttons is better. If it allows clicking without pressing but just touching, even better.
In an ideal world a good touchpad shall include a button next to it to turn on/off the device for three main purposes:
saving battery when using the terminal for an extended period
to disable it to prevent accidental clicking
you want to save battery and don't need to use the touchpad at the moment
Backlit keyboard
it helps a lot when it comes with white and/or green light. Red is acceptable while blue it not good at all.
Display
A 14'' display seems to be ok and it's a relative consensus. Matte displays are something really valuable just because glossy screens can stress eyes a lot.
Touchscreen
Not really necessary but very useful for meetings. In this case, the pen should be hidden next to the usb ports, as it is not convenient to have one that has to be stored by separate.
Weight
There are some powerful MSI laptops that feature a 15'' display and weight around 1.6 kg. This should be considered as a strict weight upper bound.
Hinges
Lenovo modern laptops feature two hinges with a 180 degree range, and 2 in 1 models can be folded completely. This should be considered.
USB ports
In my opinion is better to have 2 USB 3.0 port and 2 USB C ports than to have LAN, HDMI and all of that in the laptop. Today docking stations and dongles are quite cool and can help to have a thinner laptop.
Also Lenovo made something great by moving the charger from a dedicated round plug to one of the USB C ports.
Battery life
~6-8 hrs battery is competitive with most well-renowned ultrabook.
Processor and graphics
For Linux users, AMD is the way to go. NVIDIA card are problematic. I know Pop OS really simplifies the long fight with drivers, but keeping drivers up to date as it is required by different applications, is really complicated.
Cooling system
After experiencing many heating issues with a Dell XPS 13, in my opinion I prefer a thicker laptop over an ultra thin laptop. A somehow thin laptop that doesn't overheat if you use it for something different than documents/email is ok.
Fingerprint reader
Anything that is Ubuntu-compatible is ok.
Panel to control devices
In the case of Pop OS (what I use on a Thinkpad), it would be nice to have added options on power tab (upper right corner) that allows to disable/enable:
wifi
bluetooth
touchpad
webcam
usb ports
fingerprint reader
I know the wifi on/off function works ok, and it can be extended to other hardware devices.
Looking for the perfect laptop (for developers)
Introduction
After your Twitter reply here are my thoughts about the perfect laptop.
Thinkpads
IMO, the best laptops ever created and MoMA is with me at this. However, after a long discussion with colleagues they could be improved with some small changes.
Arrow keys
They should be fully sized, even if that requires to enlarge the keyboard area a bit more, as currently most laptops (i.e. Thinkpads) enlarge the bottom edge a bit. The same applies to key such as PgUp and PgDn.
Fn keys
Unlike most Thinkpad users, my call is that fn button should be right to ctrl button as most users are used to that.
Touchpad and numerical keyboard
The touchpad should be horizontally centered and there should be no numerical keyboard on a laptop, as it biases both the touchpad and the rest of the keyboard to the left, and therefore it promotes bad muscular habits.
Ideally, a touchpad without buttons is better. If it allows clicking without pressing but just touching, even better.
In an ideal world a good touchpad shall include a button next to it to turn on/off the device for three main purposes:
Backlit keyboard
it helps a lot when it comes with white and/or green light. Red is acceptable while blue it not good at all.
Display
A 14'' display seems to be ok and it's a relative consensus. Matte displays are something really valuable just because glossy screens can stress eyes a lot.
Touchscreen
Not really necessary but very useful for meetings. In this case, the pen should be hidden next to the usb ports, as it is not convenient to have one that has to be stored by separate.
Weight
There are some powerful MSI laptops that feature a 15'' display and weight around 1.6 kg. This should be considered as a strict weight upper bound.
Hinges
Lenovo modern laptops feature two hinges with a 180 degree range, and 2 in 1 models can be folded completely. This should be considered.
USB ports
In my opinion is better to have 2 USB 3.0 port and 2 USB C ports than to have LAN, HDMI and all of that in the laptop. Today docking stations and dongles are quite cool and can help to have a thinner laptop.
Also Lenovo made something great by moving the charger from a dedicated round plug to one of the USB C ports.
Battery life
~6-8 hrs battery is competitive with most well-renowned ultrabook.
Processor and graphics
For Linux users, AMD is the way to go. NVIDIA card are problematic. I know Pop OS really simplifies the long fight with drivers, but keeping drivers up to date as it is required by different applications, is really complicated.
Cooling system
After experiencing many heating issues with a Dell XPS 13, in my opinion I prefer a thicker laptop over an ultra thin laptop. A somehow thin laptop that doesn't overheat if you use it for something different than documents/email is ok.
Fingerprint reader
Anything that is Ubuntu-compatible is ok.
Panel to control devices
In the case of Pop OS (what I use on a Thinkpad), it would be nice to have added options on power tab (upper right corner) that allows to disable/enable:
I know the wifi on/off function works ok, and it can be extended to other hardware devices.