After years of using Windows Laptops and transitioning to Macbook Air oh my...

[Arilian]

The one thing I haven't liked on mac is there doesn't seem a way to print to pdf on acrobat. Idk if I'm missing something or what

Click to shrink...

I don't use Acrobat, but printing to PDF is a native functionality of macOS since a very long time. If Adobe didn't change the way the printer window works, you should see the a menu called PDF at the bottom left of that window, near a ?

I'd argue the opposite and say macOS is designed around floating windows over tiled/full screen apps. There are tools for better window management but I can't recall the last time I worked in a full-screen window on macOS on a large monitor.

Click to shrink...

Same here and I don't even have a big monitor by today's standard (I have a 1920x1200 24" monitor). Having windows floating on top of each other is so ingrained in my way of using a Mac that I think I'm doing it even when I'm using my laptop without an external screen.

 

[Fatoy]

Same here and I don't even have a big monitor by today's standard (I have a 1920x1200 24" monitor). Having windows floating on top of each other is so ingrained in my way of using a Mac that I think I'm doing it even when I'm using my laptop without an external screen.

Click to shrink...

There are so many ways to quickly switch between active windows in every desktop OS that I've never felt the need for tiling. I tried Magnet and Amethyst on macOS, and aside from the very rare occasions where I'm reviewing two documents side by side, I'm always happier with floating windows that I either CMD+Tab or CTRL+Up to switch between.

For Slack, music etc. I have them open on another display, using the same philosophy.

I'm sure there are workflows that need four tiled windows at all times, but mine definitely isn't one of them.

 

[horkrux]

I see people mentioning longevity as a bullet point in Apple's favor and yet my Toshiba (RIP) I bought during my college days back in 2011 was still usable up until it died on me in 2020.

You can make your Windows device last long, it just requires a bit more hands-on maintenance to do so.

Click to shrink...

I'm still using my MSI gaming notebook from 2012. The battery would be in need of replacement, sure, but other than that it's essentially lasting me for as long as I'm willing to put up with its performance profile. I could even still upgrade SSD space and RAM..

 

[NeonCarbon]

M1 Airs are so fast and literally don't have any fans/noise. Still need a Windows laptop for running VMs and a few other things.

 

[DjDeathCool]

Been using Windows most of my life. I've used Mac OS throughout as well. Recently had to start using Mac OS again and I cannot stand it. A part of it was definitely me not being as used to it but I have a ton of gripes with how it functions and the inability to change how Apple decides I should interact with my PC. I'm not a laptop user so that comparison would be moot with me even if I had a MacBook.

 

[pronk]

The M1 Macs are surprisingly good for gaming with non-native Intel games. Amazingly so in fact. I've been playing a lot of intel binary games that would have made my Intel MBP go nuclear on the fans, that run really well and barely make my M1 Pro even get warm.

I wouldn't buy one specifically for gaming as a lot of games are still windows only, but its cool to be able to play stuff like League and recent Steam games on it.

 

[chewman]

Unfortunately, using a mouse on a Mac is probably one of the worst user experiences on a modern computer.

Like who actually thinks anyone ever wants a scroll wheel to have reversed scrolling? Why is there only one universal setting that's tied to both the mouse and the trackpad? I've been using a Mac since 2012 and the mouse tracking / acceleration is one of those things that has always just felt completely wrong. And the accelerated wheel scrolling is even worse… like your screen always feels like it moves in random amounts of lines. Again, is there anyone out there who actually intentionally wants their screen to scroll by 1 pixel when they spin their wheel by one notch?

 

[345]

I get it -- what I'm saying is gaming laptops aren't the best for mixed-use productivity + gaming, especially when portability and battery life are factors. The things you want from a gaming laptop are kind of at odds from what makes a great, portable productivity machine. In the latter, Apple is unmatched, and those who can, should seek to decouple their gaming from their productivity on the go.

Click to shrink...

i thought this too until using the zephyrus G14.

you get a solid 8 hours or so of silent productivity, it has a 16:10 1440p screen, the keyboard and trackpad are good, it doesn't look too ridiculous, and the form factor isn't bulky at all. plus great gaming performance!

i use an M1 mac mini for working at home, so when it came time to replace my gaming PC i looked into something that could do the job hooked up to a monitor on my desk while also being a legit on-the-go computer so i wouldn't need a redundant macbook as well as the mini. i've actually been really happy with it.

granted, part of the reason i looked into laptops at all was the wild PC component pricing at the time. and for most people it'd definitely make more sense to have a gaming desktop and a macbook that you dock and use on the go. but i prefer using a desktop mac and already had the mini, so this was my best inverted solution, and it's working great so far.

gaming laptops used to be impractical but things have really changed over the past couple years.

 

[NekoNeko]

the HW is great but i think the software is just as flawed as windows and there's tons of idiotic design decisions.

the HW is so good that i use it for mobile but on desktop i prefer windows.

 

[345]

Unfortunately, using a mouse on a Mac is probably one of the worst user experiences on a modern computer.

Like who actually thinks anyone ever wants a scroll wheel to have reversed scrolling? Why is there only one universal setting that's tied to both the mouse and the trackpad? I've been using a Mac since 2012 and the mouse tracking / acceleration is one of those things that has always just felt completely wrong. And the accelerated wheel scrolling is even worse… like your screen always feels like it moves in random amounts of lines. Again, is there anyone out there who actually intentionally wants their screen to scroll by 1 pixel when they spin their wheel by one notch?

Click to shrink...

if you're using a mouse with a mac you're doing it wrong. the OS is basically designed for the magic trackpad, and apple has consistently been the worst mouse manufacturer in the history of computing.

everything you're saying is correct but it's also solved on any mac by just not using a mouse.

 

[Kyrios]

I still prefer Windows when it comes to desktops but for laptops? Yeah, MacBooks absolutely come out on top, no contest.

Yeah it's generic to say, but you really do get what you pay for. If I was in the market for a laptop I wouldn't even look at Windows ones.

 

[chewman]

if you're using a mouse with a mac you're doing it wrong. the OS is basically designed for the magic trackpad, and apple has consistently been the worst mouse manufacturer in the history of computing.

everything you're saying is correct but it's also solved on any mac by just not using a mouse.

Click to shrink...

That's not a solution if you've ever tried to do advanced Excel / spreadsheet work on a Mac. You can't even drag a cell while scrolling with a trackpad.

 

[Royalan]

For me, I just vibe more with the core structure and design philosophy of Windows. Whenever I have to use MacOS it's disorienting (because I don't use it often, to be fair), but even beyond that it feels less intuitive, and a lot of things that are simple to do in Windows feels overly complicated to me.

Macs are definitely beautifully constructed devices, so I get the OP. But that's handled by buying more expensive Windows hardware instead of comparing a $600-$800 range laptop with a $1,200 MacBook. I think at this point Microsoft's Surface laptops are very comparable to MacBooks (and they had better be for what you're paying).

 

[Vommy]

Love my M1 for work

 

[TarpitCarnivore]

Unfortunately, using a mouse on a Mac is probably one of the worst user experiences on a modern computer.

Like who actually thinks anyone ever wants a scroll wheel to have reversed scrolling? Why is there only one universal setting that's tied to both the mouse and the trackpad? I've been using a Mac since 2012 and the mouse tracking / acceleration is one of those things that has always just felt completely wrong. And the accelerated wheel scrolling is even worse… like your screen always feels like it moves in random amounts of lines. Again, is there anyone out there who actually intentionally wants their screen to scroll by 1 pixel when they spin their wheel by one notch?

Click to shrink...

The scrolling direction is a universal system setting, it's not specific to the mouse. I use a mouse all the time with macOS and it was far easier on my hands and wrist than the trackpad, especially since I can configure the buttons to do stuff like expose.

 

[ascagnel]

That's not a solution if you've ever tried to do advanced Excel / spreadsheet work on a Mac. You can't even drag a cell while scrolling with a trackpad.

Click to shrink...

That may be an Excel thing. In Numbers, I used my thumb to click a cell and held my thumb down, wiggled my thumb a little to get the cell into drag mode, and then used my middle and ring fingers (you could use any two other fingers, but that's what's natural for my hand size) to do a two-finger swipe to scroll while holding my thumb down.

 

[crespo]

If not for Surface, I'd be on Macbook.

 

[Arilian]

That may be an Excel thing. In Numbers, I used my thumb to click a cell and held my thumb down, wiggled my thumb a little to get the cell into drag mode, and then used my middle and ring fingers (you could use any two other fingers, but that's what's natural for my hand size) to do a two-finger swipe to scroll while holding my thumb down.

Click to shrink...

It's work with LibreOffice Calc too.

 

[teruterubozu]

I use both Mac at home and Windows at work equally. There are things I like and hate about both.
But nothing is worse than the insanely archaic and bloated Windows Update system. There are times I lose a half day of work waiting for the damn thing to update as it struggles with a Cumulative patch.

 

[The Albatross]

FOr those who dislike floating windows, like me, check out Rectangle. It's a very nice implementation of a Windows-like snapping feature. I can live with floating windows, being a mac user for 20 something years, but I'll always prefer the Windows 7+ like snap feature, especially with keyboard shortcuts.

It's free, doesn't do ads or put anything in your task bar, or do anything annoying:

Rectangle

Move and resize windows in macOS using keyboard shortcuts or snap areas. The official page for Rectangle.

rectangleapp.com

There's a paid version which adds some advanced configuration, but for the most part out of the box it's very similar to Windows' snap feature. not quite as good, the keyboard shortcuts are slightly different, but it's about as close to 1:1 as I think you can get on a Mac.

I upgraded to Pro, which is just $10, for one feature which allows you to configure custom snap zones, which I use a lot for my code editor + terminal snapped below it. I use it less these days now that every IDE has a built in terminal, but still occassionally use it.

I use a Mac for home/work, I use Windows for my work workstation, and routinely use various linux distributions, so whatever gets the desktop UI experience pretty similar for major intuitive features, is a win for me. I also like Windows 11's new Mac-like virtual desktop manager.

 

[Senteevs]

As someone who works in IT Support I absolutely hate Macs and hate using them as well. I'm happy you like them, but they're not for me at all.

Click to shrink...

This is me right here

 

[Mindwipe]

I love MacOS, and I'm about to buy an M2 Macbook but...

• First and foremost, the gaming situation on a Mac is so awful as to be untenable, and I don't understand why Apple don't accept they need to actually do some work to fix it. Pump a bunch of support into Crossover. Fix Metal (Metal 3 is a tiny bit better but it's not all that's required), or write a bootcamp loader for Windows for ARM. But do something. The ports are never coming.
• For the love of god, snapping needs to be native UI.
• Almost every change to the OS to be closer to iOS is a mess. The frameworks are bad. Stop it.
• Word for Mac still stinks. It stinks really bad. What Microsoft has against an actually usable comments system on Macs I have no idea.

 

[Zissou]

I get it -- what I'm saying is gaming laptops aren't the best for mixed-use productivity + gaming, especially when portability and battery life are factors. The things you want from a gaming laptop are kind of at odds from what makes a great, portable productivity machine. In the latter, Apple is unmatched, and those who can, should seek to decouple their gaming from their productivity on the go.

Click to shrink...

I think this is a good point. I have an old Chromebook, and it notified me recently that it'll stop getting OS/security updates in June 2023. I figured, "Hey, it'd be nice to game on the go. Maybe I could get a Windows laptop to replace it. It'll cost more, but it'd be nice to do some gaming for when I'm away from my desktop machine." It became quickly apparent that a decent-ish gaming laptop was 1) pretty big and 2) pretty expensive.

I just ended up buying a Steam Deck. It's cheaper to buy a deck ($400 and then a $60 512gb SD card) + a separate productivity laptop than it is to buy a single gaming laptop. It also means I can separately replace/upgrade each machine as needed. If the deck isn't cutting it in a couple years, I can buy a Steam Deck 2 or whatever but keep using my existing laptop.

 

[345]

That's not a solution if you've ever tried to do advanced Excel / spreadsheet work on a Mac. You can't even drag a cell while scrolling with a trackpad.

Click to shrink...

oh, well yeah as i noted earlier in the thread there are lots of reasons not to do advanced excel work on a mac in the first place, regardless of input device. that's on microsoft, not apple, but there's such little demand for pro-level excel on macOS that i don't blame microsoft either.

For me, I just vibe more with the core structure and design philosophy of Windows. Whenever I have to use MacOS it's disorienting (because I don't use it often, to be fair), but even beyond that it feels less intuitive, and a lot of things that are simple to do in Windows feels overly complicated to me.

Macs are definitely beautifully constructed devices, so I get the OP. But that's handled by buying more expensive Windows hardware instead of comparing a $600-$800 range laptop with a $1,200 MacBook. I think at this point Microsoft's Surface laptops are very comparable to MacBooks (and they had better be for what you're paying).

Click to shrink...

i think this was true pre-apple silicon, because surface design/build quality is generally great (and i love the 3:2 screens), but the difference in performance/noise/heat etc is pretty stark these days.

 

[WonderingRogue]

oh, well yeah as i noted earlier in the thread there are lots of reasons not to do advanced excel work on a mac in the first place, regardless of input device. that's on microsoft, not apple, but there's such little demand for pro-level excel on macOS that i don't blame microsoft either.



i think this was true pre-apple silicon, because surface design/build quality is generally great (and i love the 3:2 screens), but the difference in performance/noise/heat etc is pretty stark these days.

Click to shrink...

Isn't intel/amd closing the gap with things like intel's hybrid architecture on last year and this year's laptops though?

It's still not the same, but in terms of batteyr life and heat things are starting to get closer. I haven't seen the latets benchmarks from the new windows laptops vs the new macbooks though, so maybe new apple hardware is sitll leapfrogging when ti comes to battery life + heat.

 

[Metanoia Prime]

If it weren't for gaming, I would be on some sort of Apple computer. But, for me, building my own PC a few years ago was the far better proposition given my intended uses.

 

[Faceless_Caesar]

I just found the native macOS excel app really bad from my experience when I had a Mac (this was ten years ago). I can't remember examples, but I really disliked the experience.

Click to shrink...

It's a lot better now. The UI isn't weird anymore and is the same as the Windows version.

 

[Septy]

The smoothness and stability of MacOS cannot be understated enough. I recently got a gaming pc and within the first few days I had over a dozen applications freeze and crash on me and multiple restarts. It's a joke how windows operates.

 

[lexony]

I feel like it depends on your use cases. For me as someone who needs 3D software, Unity and various other tools for work and wants to play PC games Windows is just the better option. But I totally see if you want a device in the use cases that Apple actually supports (Audio, 2D graphics software, Video editing, coding to a certain extend or just using your PC in a casual way) it's a very valid option.

 

[immy]

It's a lot better now. The UI isn't weird anymore and is the same as the Windows version.

Click to shrink...

Good to hear, it was rubbish back then

 

[solidstatesurvivor]

M1 MBA is perfect for my use. Ableton, with tons of plug-ins running, is flawless.

Only downside is a lack of USB inputs but I really only use one USB for an input and another going out to my monitor. Getting a monitor with a single USB C input for charging and video output was a game changer.

It also does a fantastic job running emulators.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

I don't use Acrobat, but printing to PDF is a native functionality of macOS since a very long time. If Adobe didn't change the way the printer window works, you should see the a menu called PDF at the bottom left of that window, near a ?

Click to shrink...

I still don't get what's the purpose of this. You have a PDF file and you want to save it to... PDF?

 

[steejee]

MacOS vs WinOS is 100% a YMMV situation ("Your mileage may vary"). Use what you like, either will work well enough in that regard.

I don't love Windows, but I like it more than MacOS, and as someone who still builds her own PCs Mac is not an option at all. For laptops I want to game (and still don't like the MacOS UI), so still Windows. Beyond that Thinkpads still have the best laptop keyboards bar none, plus the nub, though F Lenovo and the SuperFish situation a few years back...

I'll note for the longevity angle that I still have a 14 year old Lenovo X200 convertable tablet that runs just fine and still gets occasional use. No Windows or Mac keyboard has ever compared, which is even more impressive given that the X200 was only a 12" screen size so making a keyboard that perfect in that form factor is incredible. It's getting capped out for OS version, but I gave it a new SSD hard drive and maxed out the memory a few years back and it's been humming along happily ever since.

 

[Faceless_Caesar]

I still don't get what's the purpose of this. You have a PDF file and you want to save it to... PDF?

Click to shrink...

I work in IT and a lot of people do this for some reason. It's more annoying when they print something like a JPEG to a PDF for some reason and then hand it off to a graphic designer to use in a project. The designer just spends extra time converting that PDF back to a usable format.

I'll note for the longevity angle that I still have a 14 year old Lenovo X200 convertable tablet that runs just fine and still gets occasional use. No Windows or Mac keyboard has ever compared, which is even more impressive given that the X200 was only a 12" screen size so making a keyboard that perfect in that form factor is incredible. It's getting capped out for OS version, but I gave it a new SSD hard drive and maxed out the memory a few years back and it's been humming along happily ever since.

Click to shrink...

You could probably throw a lightweight linux distro on there like Lubuntu to get supported software if you are open to trying Linux.

 

[Cien]

For me, I just vibe more with the core structure and design philosophy of Windows. Whenever I have to use MacOS it's disorienting (because I don't use it often, to be fair), but even beyond that it feels less intuitive, and a lot of things that are simple to do in Windows feels overly complicated to me.

Macs are definitely beautifully constructed devices, so I get the OP. But that's handled by buying more expensive Windows hardware instead of comparing a $600-$800 range laptop with a $1,200 MacBook. I think at this point Microsoft's Surface laptops are very comparable to MacBooks (and they had better be for what you're paying).

Click to shrink...

Wife got a Surface Laptop 4. It looked good and the performance was solid but I can't stand it. And honestly neither can she anymore.

The color on the screen is terrible compared to others. As an artist, half of her images are messed up due to the lower color gamut.

The fan is always bloody running. Just having a browser open and the thing is screaming like she's running 20 VMs.

Finally just got her a MacBook Pro and she is much happier. Teething issues with macos aside since she isn't fully used to it yet.

 

[steejee]

You could probably throw a lightweight linux distro on there like Lubuntu to get supported software if you are open to trying Linux.

Click to shrink...

Yeah that's my plan once it's gotten too far gone for any more Windows updates.

The X200 convertible screen is actually a full on Wacom tablet, so mostly just dreading getting the right software going to let me continue using it in that way.

 

[Arilian]

I still don't get what's the purpose of this. You have a PDF file and you want to save it to... PDF?

Click to shrink...

I don't get it either but I don't use Acrobat at all.

Having said that, I recently printed a PDF to PDF: it was an administrative document and you were supposed to modify it in your browser but for some reasons, some fields were locked. I opened it in Affinity Publisher, but all fields were empty (even the ones I already filled...), so I printed the PDF into another PDF with Aperçu (the native PDF reader of macOS but I don't know how it's named in English, sorry) which allowed me to keep the already filled fields and I edited the others before saving it as a PDF.

I work in IT and a lot of people do this for some reason. It's more annoying when they print something like a JPEG to a PDF for some reason and then hand it off to a graphic designer to use in a project. The designer just spends extra time converting that PDF back to a usable format.

Click to shrink...

I don't have it, but isn't Acrobat only used to create PDF which should be able to save a PDF as a PDF ? That's why DiipuSurotu finds it strange to want to print a PDF to another one.

 

[The Albatross]

I still don't get what's the purpose of this. You have a PDF file and you want to save it to... PDF?

Click to shrink...

It's kinda weird but "Print to PDF" or "Save as PDF" is a common computer workflow for a lot of people. At my work I used to have to spend a lot of time on the PDF stylesheet for web pages, because our sales department commonly exported pages to PDFs then printed the PDF and used it at trade shows or to give to customers.

Still for that poster's workflow, I'm not sure what's missing for them on MacOS. Print to PDF has been an OS-wide supported functionality of MacOS for decades, without needing Acrobat or anything else, just natively supported in all major operating systems.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

It's kinda weird but "Print to PDF" or "Save as PDF" is a common computer workflow for a lot of people. At my work I used to have to spend a lot of time on the PDF stylesheet for web pages, because our sales department commonly exported pages to PDFs then printed the PDF and used it at trade shows or to give to customers.

Still for that poster's workflow, I'm not sure what's missing for them on MacOS. Print to PDF has been an OS-wide supported functionality of MacOS for decades, without needing Acrobat or anything else, just natively supported in all major operating systems.

Click to shrink...

No I get that. JPEG-to-PDF export, HTML-to-PDF export, sure. But the other poster specifically asked about PDF-to-PDF export, which doesn't make sense to me.

I don't have it, but isn't Acrobat only used to create PDF which should be able to save a PDF as a PDF ? That's why @DiipuSurotu finds it strange to want to print a PDF to another one.

Click to shrink...

^ Yup.

 

[Unicorn]

Have a 2017 air and the real positive I can say about it is how well it handles battery. My surface will usually be drained or dead if I don't use it for a few days, but after a weekend away my work-based Air has 80% charge and I can just get back to work.

Anyone know if I'm able to get a good sleep or standby going for my other windows devices?

 

[TurkishDelight]

If people spent the same amount of money on Windows laptops as they do on a Macbook, the hardware is about the same to me. Surface laptops, XPS etc. But they don't, and most people's experience with windows/linux laptops are work provided ones, or the cheap ones they buy. Work laptops are not consumer grade, and are no frills devices at best. The M series chips are amazing, and MacOS is very simple to use, so if that's your metric, that's good. For me, while I like the aesthetic of MacOS, using it is like trying to work with one arm behind my back. When I see my friends using their Macbooks for work, they have email open, editing a video, maybe a web browser, then my work laptop has 3 monitors with dozens of things running in complex windowing..and MacOS is hell for that.

Click to shrink...

its not same
I have dell xps and it costs way more than macbook air, shitty fan noise and heat, etc

 

[gozu]

I switched back in 2008 or so, to their very first aluminum macbook because it was way better than any windows laptop at the time.

currently the 16gb mba is hands down the best computer* on the planet. No contest.

* with a screen of 13" or more, otherwise, maybe a smartphone or tablet would take the crown

 

[CobaltBlu]

I've got one of these and It's pretty good but not some kind of revelation and sometimes I miss Windows when I'm using it. The battery life and silence is nice though.

 

[ShapeGSX]

Just use Google Sheets like everyone else

Click to shrink...

You're kidding, right? I don't think my visual basic macros will work in Google Sheets...or even on a Mac, judging from the rest of the comments.

 

[Deleted member 15666]

Windows is still superior for me because of video games and Microsoft applications (Word, Excel, etc.), which entails pretty much ~65% of my laptop usage.

 

[Deleted member 15666]

The smoothness and stability of MacOS cannot be understated enough. I recently got a gaming pc and within the first few days I had over a dozen applications freeze and crash on me and multiple restarts. It's a joke how windows operates.

Click to shrink...

I don't think that is a Windows issue. Might be an issue with whichever company manufactured your laptop.

With MAC, Apple is the only manufacturer.

With Windows, there are multiple companies manufacturing laptops (including Microsoft, ASUS, Dell, Acer, Lenovo, HP, Razer, and many many others) so the build quality will vary greatly across laptops. I used to have a really cheap/shitty Asus laptop that constantly crashed. I now have Asus' high end Zenbook Duo and it is a dream in comparison.

 

[Frodo]

The best thing about Windows laptops, in my opinion, is that it is easy to find a laptop that DOESN'T have a metal casing and won''t be freezing cold when I put it on my lap.

 

[ShapeGSX]

The fan is always bloody running. Just having a browser open and the thing is screaming like she's running 20 VMs.

Click to shrink...

People say "just a browser open" often to point out hardware deficiencies, but with all the stuff a web browser does (including running literal applications inside it...like a VM would), it's amazing that we expect them to be easy on the CPU/GPU to run. If she had 20 tabs open, perhaps your "running 20 VMs" wouldn't be too far from the truth. That said, I'd guess the Surface was running Chrome, which is a real hog. On Windows, I'd suggest trying a different browser, like Edge, which I've found to be far more efficient (and better at putting tabs to sleep).

 

[Cien]

People say "just a browser open" often to point out hardware deficiencies, but with all the stuff a web browser does (including running literal applications inside it...like a VM would), it's amazing that we expect them to be easy on the CPU/GPU to run. If she had 20 tabs open, perhaps your "running 20 VMs" wouldn't be too far from the truth. That said, I'd guess the Surface was running Chrome, which is a real hog. On Windows, I'd suggest trying a different browser, like Edge.

Click to shrink...

Even Edge. But yea I know Chrome is a hog, but the Surface laptop 4 is known for being pretty loud. Most reviews pointed it out. It's not the worst thing ever, but it's something that bothered me. Whereas the M1 doesn't feel like it's dying doing the same thing.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

The best thing about Windows laptops, in my opinion, is that it is easy to find a laptop that DOESN'T have a metal casing and won''t be freezing cold when I put it on my lap.

Click to shrink...

Putting it on your lap isn't good though, neither for yourself nor for the laptop ventilation.