New Laptops SUCK!

This is going to be a rant about all the retarded things about new laptops.

High gloss screens - sure they look fancy, but don't try doing any real work with a window behind you.

"Fancy" volume adjustments - My fancy shmancy HP dv7-1260us has "buttons" (in quotes because they aren't buttons, they are flush with the case, likely using the same technology as a touchpad to know when they are touched). Anyway these buttons obviously do not physically affect hardware, they require software to do their job. So when I'm remote desktop'd to another machine and press the mute "button" it doesn't actually mute my laptop, it doesn't do anything. Same with the volume control... I long for the days of a volume dial that directly affects the hardware of the laptop you're sitting at.

Keyboard layouts - They're all different, some have enter keys that are taller than they are wide, some are wider than they are tall, some swap the function key with the control key. Before you buy a laptop make sure you're going to enjoy typing on it, and that its the same or very similar to the keyboard you normally use.

Touchpads - The old school Dell's had the best touchpad. It was indented so your fingers could feel the edge of the touchpad, some touchpads are flush with the case so your finger will drift off of it and the only way for you to know that you're not on the touchpad anymore is the fact that the mouse cursor is no longer moving, this is just plain retarded.

Mouse Buttons - Most laptops only have 2 mouse buttons, how hard would it be to put in a middle one? I'd pay $100 more for a middle mouse button, and $100 more on top of that for 2 more mouse buttons to go forward and back. And $100 more for a mouse wheel. My $5 mouse has all of these things, why not a laptop? I'm paying good money for a laptop I'm going to have for a while, I want it to be usable as possible, I write code all day, I'll gladly get a lower performance laptop and pay more if the human-computer interface speeds up my work. Hell, I'd pay 2x the price of what it SHOULD cost if the physical interface was flawless.

Mouse Buttons - Mine are really hard to click, I have to use a lot of force to click them, this is going to cause unnecessary stress on my forearms, don't laugh, repetitive stress injury is serious and can seriously mess up your life if you are coding for 12 hours a day, its happened to me, I have to be careful with this stuff.

Touchpad / Buttons Closeness - I'm referring to how close the mouse buttons are to the touchpad. Some laptops are totally flush, this is RETARDED because you will be moving your finger down on the touchpad and since there is no distinct separation between the touchpad and the buttons your finger will glide onto the buttons and you will inadvertently click. Others, like mine there is too much separation, my mouse pad is indented, which I love, but the ridge should only be a millimeter thick, and then the buttons should be right there. My buttons are about a centimeter from the touchpad, this is too far.

All in all, I am more satisfied with my HP dv7-1260us than I was with the previous 3 laptops I tried and returned before this due to one or more of the above reasons.

If anyone from Lenovo reads this, if your function key wasn't swapped with your control key you would have had a sale and a very happy customer I think. The control key should be on the far bottom left as it is used more frequently and therefore should be easier to find by feel.