Tom’s Guide asks: What’s your biggest laptop pet peeve?

Laptops are fairly good in 2024, however they could possibly be loads higher.

I do know as a result of I have been reviewing them for over a decade, and I work with a group of sensible people who’ve been doing it for simply as lengthy or longer. 

Which means we’re fortunate to have front-row seats to the ever-expanding carnival of curiosities that’s moveable PC design. From sliding screens and 360-degree rotatable audio system to LED lids and touchscreens on the keyboard deck, we have seen all kinds of attention-grabbing laptops through the years.

But for all this innovation and progress, we nonetheless see laptop computer makers transport merchandise with essentially irritating designs. Whether or not it is a energy cable that is too brief or a lid that is painfully arduous to open, there’s a number of quite simple points with trendy laptops that appear pretty easy to repair—or keep away from, in case you’re looking for the best laptop yow will discover. 

I do know our Computing group at Tom’s Information is well-acquainted with the highs and lows of laptop computer design, so I requested them to weigh in on what they discover most irritating about trendy notebooks. However that is greater than a genial grumblefest: I am hoping that my colleague’s hard-won expertise reviewing irritating laptops will assist you recognize what to search for when shopping for a brand new laptop computer—and what to keep away from, in case you can.

Fanning the flames of my fury

I keep in mind attempting to hearken to the cutscenes in Resident Evil 4 on the Acer Predator Helios 300 SpatialLabs Edition final 12 months, and the followers of that chonky laptop computer began whirring so fiercely, I needed to stick my headphones on. Fairly please, producers, are you able to not make your laptops quieter for the sake of my shattered listening to? 

Excuse me whereas I’m going all Nic Cage’s “Wicker Man” on y’all, however… NOT THE FANS. NOT THE FANS! Now that I’ve lastly gotten that out of my system, I can extra succinctly say that fan noise on laptops sucks. I’ve examined a number of the best gaming laptops during the last 12 months, and barring the terribly good (and pleasingly quiet) ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024), lesser machines have rattling close to made my eardrums implode. 

After I begin testing a gaming laptop computer, I usually put Home windows 11 straight into efficiency mode, which robotically ramps up fan pace when the on-screen motion begins to get hectic in one of many best Steam games. At its least offensive, fan noise generally is a fixed irritant you do your greatest to disregard. And at its worst? It may be an entire immersion-breaker.

MicroSD? Extra like MicroSoDumb

OK, so I do know a few of you will not like this take. However give me a minute to clarify myself.

I am a hobbyist photographer and basic content material creator. From my early days of doing this in college to creating strikes alone YouTube channel, one customary has remained synonymous with cameras — the full-size SD card slot. 

Nothing makes me happier than simply seeing a suitable slot on my laptop computer (like my every day driver within the M3 Pro MacBook Pro) to only get to all my captures rapidly and simply. However nothing grinds my gears greater than seeing this slot chopped in half and also you’re given a MicroSD card slot as a substitute. At that time, it is advisable purchase one with an adaptor to your digicam, which you’ll lose inside the first 2 seconds of opening the rattling packaging. It is simply falling again into dongle chaos that I simply can’t stand.

And I completely perceive that flush MicroSD slots are an efficient technique to improve your laptop computer’s on-board storage. However it’s a rarity to seek out something like this anymore — making this entire storage growth answer a non-starter. So please, I am begging laptop computer makers proper now. Please cease the nonsense. Please cease including MicroSD card slots, as in case you’re doing us a favor. Full dimension is the one technique to go for any and all content material creators on the market.

Don’t give me any of your lip

A laptop computer is a handy technique to get computing completed on the go. What’s not handy is when it’s arduous to open them. Most laptops have a lip on the lid that allows you to simply raise it open. This characteristic is so ubiquitous that laptops with no lip on the lid stand out like a sore thumb (pun supposed). However these laptops nonetheless exist, and it irks me each single time.

The most important provides are Dell XPS laptops. Don’t get me flawed, XPS notebooks are amongst my favorites. I’ve used the 2022 and 2023 variations of the XPS 15 OLED as my every day driver on the workplace. Nonetheless, as I famous in my evaluations, opening them generally is a ache since XPS laptops (even the 2024 fashions) don’t have lips on the lid. The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024) I lately reviewed additionally doesn’t have a lip, proving it’s not only a Dell XPS downside.

As I stated, most trendy laptops have a lip on the lid, so this pet peeve of mine isn’t one I’ve to take care of usually. Hopefully, there will probably be a time when each laptop computer (or no less than those I take a look at) may have lips on the lid.

Keyboard placement issues greater than you suppose

In the event you’re crunching numbers all day or working with a great deal of spreadsheets, then you definately would possibly really put a full-size keyboard with a quantity pad on a laptop computer to good use. For me although, I desire a smaller keyboard with out one. The reason is is that when you will have a keyboard with no numpad, it’s  extra more likely to be centered.

After I do have to depart my desktop at dwelling and work from a laptop computer, I would like the expertise to be as shut as potential to the way in which I’ve my desk setup. I doubt anybody has their keyboard off to the left or proper of their monitor, so why achieve this many laptops come this fashion? 

Fortuitously, there are many nice laptops that forego a numpad for a centered keyboard with much less cramped keys. For example, my trusty ThinkPad (pictured above) is configured this fashion and it’s one of many causes I picked it over different business laptops. Extra lately although, I had an opportunity to check out the Razer Blade 16 (2024) and apart from being a strong gaming laptop, I really favored engaged on it due to its centered keyboard with simply the correct amount of journey.

If I do want to take a seat down and work with a number of numbers, chances are high I’ll be at my desk observing a monitor as a substitute of a laptop computer display screen. You may all the time get an exterior numpad after the actual fact however in case you go for a laptop computer with one inbuilt, there’s no going again.

I received these port placement blues

It is arduous to choose one factor that annoys me most about trendy laptops, however one frustration that appears remarkably straightforward to treatment is poor port placement.

This is an instance: I lately reviewed a Lenovo Slim 7 that is spectacular in some ways, however there are a number of selections made in its design that basically annoy me. Particularly, the laptop computer can solely be charged from ports on the left aspect, but the facility cable is so brief (slightly below 6 toes) that if an outlet is not already on my left aspect I’ve to maneuver myself and the laptop computer right into a probably awkward place the place I can stretch the cable far sufficient to plug in.

This has led to me placing this $1k evaluate unit in some very awkward, harmful conditions the place the cable is stretched taut throughout the desk. At dwelling it is only a problem I’ve to work round, however on the go it is a legit downside that would presumably cease me from having the ability to cost my laptop computer, even when the factor is dying and I must get work completed ASAP. 

So whereas the laptop computer itself is nice, this one little determination is inflicting me undue quantities of frustration. It is a good instance of why unhealthy port placement is certainly one of my greatest pet peeves in laptops, particularly when it looks as if such a straightforward downside to resolve if these merchandise had been extra totally examined in real-world conditions.

In fact, I perceive that port placement is considerably influenced by what’s contained in the laptop computer and the way it’s laid out. I can sympathize with laptop computer makers who battle to design laptops which can be as skinny and light-weight as clients appear to demand, but pack in sufficient high-quality elements and a ok battery that you simply get nice efficiency on the go.

With all these considerations to fret about I can sympathize with laptop computer makers who cannot squeeze in all of the ports they’d prefer to, or need to compromise on how they’re positioned. However if you’re designing a laptop computer with USB-C charging and but you solely put USB-C ports on one aspect (just like the Lenovo I discussed), why not give customers an extra-long charging cable to make up for the actual fact you may’t cost from both aspect?

It’d appear to be a trivial annoyance, but it surely feels loads much less trivial whenever you’re deciding between risking your laptop computer dying in the midst of an enormous task or risking it dying by the hands of some poor espresso store buyer who by accident brushes the taut energy cable stretched tight throughout the counter, sending your costly laptop computer crashing to the ground.

So in case you’re looking for a brand new laptop computer, my recommendation is to ensure the facility cable is over 6 toes lengthy if potential (10-12 toes ought to do you simply wonderful in most conditions) and search for items which have charging ports on either side. 

That is usually solely accessible on laptops with USB-C charging, so in case you’re available in the market for a beefy gaming laptop computer (which demand equally beefy energy bricks to cost them) you will have a more durable time. Nonetheless, fairly a number of gaming laptops (particularly the massive boys) have energy ports on the again, just like the Alienware m18 pictured above. I discover this much more handy than having the facility port on the correct or left aspect, because it means you do not have to angle the laptop computer to match a close-by energy outlet. 

In fact, these are only a few of the complications we take care of when reviewing laptops. What’s your greatest pet peeve about laptop computer design as of late? Tell us within the feedback under!

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