> The problem here is that you are the prey of "High-End" PC companies with emphasis on the air quotes. You fell for /the works/ and the bells and whistles.
I didn't fall for something, I chose the only option available. I went to Best Buy, Staples, OfficeMax, OfficeDepot, Walmart, Target and Sears. Not a single one of those stores carried a single laptop under 17" with a higher density display than 1366x768. On a laptop this size, at 1366x768 you can see the damned grid etched onto the glass the pixels are so big. It's a huge leap backwards compared to what was offered before everyone went widescreen. Any of those computers would've been worse to work on than the one I was trying to replace.
HP offered a 1600x900 14" screen for a brief period and since that's important to me (my laptop is my primary development machine), I paid what it cost to get it. The only other option for a comparable screen in that size is a 15" MBP. A 15" MBP with 8GB RAM, a 128GB SSD and the display upgrade (the options needed to be comparable) costs $2299 or $1000 more than I paid.
> I don't go out there and advocating that /everyone/ build their own PCs (though they should at least consider it)
Next time, get the thinkpad T-series. Yes, it's plastic rather than pretty metal, but the build quality is spectacular, even compared to my (Stolen.) MBP 13 inch. It runs both Linux and Windows like a champ. Oh, and it's easy to put in your own memory and hard drive, which decreases the relative cost. (I have an HDD and an SDD in there right now in place of the CD-ROM.
But people do build their own laptops, relatively speaking. They get Clevo bare bones and put what they want in it. I happen to think the clevo bodies are clunky, but to each their own.
yeah, my last laptop was a dell inspiron 14" with a 1400x900 resolution. my current one is a dell inspiron 15" that does 1366x768 :( i could simply not get a 900 vertical resolution without paying an exorbitant price. (for my next laptop i probably will pay the price and get a decent vertical resolution)
I didn't fall for something, I chose the only option available. I went to Best Buy, Staples, OfficeMax, OfficeDepot, Walmart, Target and Sears. Not a single one of those stores carried a single laptop under 17" with a higher density display than 1366x768. On a laptop this size, at 1366x768 you can see the damned grid etched onto the glass the pixels are so big. It's a huge leap backwards compared to what was offered before everyone went widescreen. Any of those computers would've been worse to work on than the one I was trying to replace.
HP offered a 1600x900 14" screen for a brief period and since that's important to me (my laptop is my primary development machine), I paid what it cost to get it. The only other option for a comparable screen in that size is a 15" MBP. A 15" MBP with 8GB RAM, a 128GB SSD and the display upgrade (the options needed to be comparable) costs $2299 or $1000 more than I paid.
> I don't go out there and advocating that /everyone/ build their own PCs (though they should at least consider it)
Nobody builds their own laptops.