Why do business/office job's laptops have to be so butt ugly?

[FernandoRocker]

I work on a regular company with typical cubicles and layout. It's a regular white collar job in an office setting.

After many years of having a desk PC, I finally got a new laptop. The specs are top notch. The basics are:

- Intel i9
- 1TB SSD NVME
- Nvidia Quadro P1000
- 32GB of RAM
- Thunderbolt 3

But why do they have to be so butt ugly? Thick low quality plastic. Ugly fonts on the keyboard. Plastic here and plastic there. It's a Dell Precision (can't remember the model), but it's the typical boring office computer.

My personal computer is a Huawei Matebook 13, and that thing is a thing of beauty. Even if I'm not using it, I can really admire the craftsmanship of the device

But those Dell laptops that are in use all around the world in business environments are the most boring and ugly pieces of technology.

 

[Squarehard]

To discourage employees from stealing it.

 

[nsilvias]

their meant to get work done not look pretty.

thinkpads have beautiful designs tho imo

dells business stuff is crappy ill admit

 

[shadow2810]

so you can abuse the hell out of it

 

[Sectorseven]

Thinkpads look ok.

 

[Massicot]

That doesn't look too bad to me. Maybe I'm basic.

At least it's not a thinkpad.

Edit: Lol at above. Different strokes.

 

[Hace]

That laptop looks fine.....?

 

[Bjoern]

Functionality over design.
Believe it or not, but using a bland design actually reduces costs.

 

[Vilam]

It looks perfectly fine? Why does it matter?

 

[Sandcrawler]

I'm not sure about that specific computer, but just about every enterprise-grade laptop I've ever come across has been really sturdy and they usually stay pretty new looking even under heavy use. IMO a work machine should have an understated look.

 

[V23]

They prioritise practicality and sturdiness over visual design.

I like the look of the Dell XPS *shrug*.

 

[4 Get!]

OP you sound bored bro.

 

[DGenerator]

"Why are things bought for an office functional over fanciful?" is one helluva reason to make a thread.

 

[vainya]

I have that exact same laptop right now as my home laptop. I love the minimalist design. It works. I'm sure that's why businesses like them.

 

[Deleted member 21709]

My Macbook Pro is pretty

 

[thewienke]

I'd imagine durability since every company I've worked for keeps their computers for like 5-7 years so they need to last.

 

[beelzebozo]

thinkpads are beautiful bricks

 

[signal]

I think the XPS line looks fine. Most Inspirons are ugly though.

I have a Thinkpad X230 and T490 and like both. At least they come in black I've disliked the look of the silver Apple notebooks since the Powerbook or whatever.

 

[808s & Villainy]

Who gives a shit? They're made to be durable not pretty

 

[DanteMenethil]

Looks good to me?

 

[Darknight]

That kinda looks like a Dell XPS from that angle and Dell XPS laptops look good.

 

[Advance.Wars.Sgt.]

My job has a mix where some are the "ugly" blocky labtops and others are Microsoft Surface Pros.


Obviously I'm mad jelly of the ones with the Surface Pros.

 

[BDS]

I work in IT, at my office many people have these tiny Dell XPS 13 laptops that constantly overheat, slow down, have no USB ports, and have all kinds of problems. I would have never recommended the purchase but they were leased before I worked here.

 

[sca]

thinkpads have beautiful designs tho

Click to shrink...

Yup

 

[FernandoRocker]

Just for comparison, this is my Huawei laptop. Full aluminum body. Extremely thin bezels. Glass trackpad with a beautiful designed keyboard.

Why can't Dell design something like this for enterprise users?

 

[nsilvias]

Just for comparison, this is my Huawei laptop. Full aluminum body. Extremely thin bezels. Glass trackpad with a beautiful designed keyboard.

Why can't Dell design something like this for enterprise users?

Click to shrink...

premium business laptops that look nice exist but they are expensive ass shit and you get less performance and worse reliablity. just look at the x1 thinkpads

 

[NinjaScooter]

Just for comparison, this is my Huawei laptop. Full aluminum body. Extremely thin bezels. Glass trackpad with a beautiful designed keyboard.

Why can't Dell design something like this for enterprise users?

Click to shrink...

They can. Your company just doesn't want to buy a shitload of them when they can save money on something uglier but just as functional.

 

[Deleted member 8901]

Tell me about it bruh. Offices should dump their Herman Millers and Steelcase chairs for Racing Chair DX Extremes too

 

[signal]

Just for comparison, this is my Huawei laptop. Full aluminum body. Extremely thin bezels. Glass trackpad with a beautiful designed keyboard.

Why can't Dell design something like this for enterprise users?

Click to shrink...

Are the bezels on the XPS too extreme?

 

[CreepingFear]

Business laptops are for your I.T. department, not you. You have no idea how easier it is to manage. Be happy that you have a fat client and not a VM. VM's are slower and more laggy.

 

[B4mv]

We're an HP ProBook/Elitebook shop and I think they're both nice.

 

[Clowns]

Needs more red trim

and RGB

 

[B4mv]

Business laptops are for your I.T. department, not you. You have no idea how easier it is to manage. Be happy that you have a fat client and not a VM. VM's are slower and more laggy.

Click to shrink...

If your IT department sucks or has no budget lol

 

[Gaardus]

I wish my laptop were that "ugly."

 

[caff!!!]

I want a laptop with a keyboard like my ThinkPad T40, that thing is heaven to type on

 

[Mortemis]

I have that laptop in the OP for work and it sucks. Just constant issues with something, blue screens often, and I'm just not a fan of windows. WSL at the very least is great and nice to be able to develop with all the Linux tools.

After using a MacBook Pro for all of school, the downgrade is real.

 

[smurfx]

i thought you were gonna talk about those rugged laptops not these plain jane laptops. i had a thinkpad before my current laptop and that thing was a tank. dropped it like 3 times on my tile floor and didn't have any damage.

 

[FernandoRocker]

I have that laptop in the OP for work and it sucks. Just constant issues with something, blue screens often, and I'm just not a fan of windows. WSL at the very least is great and nice to be able to develop with all the Linux tools.

After using a MacBook Pro for all of school, the downgrade is real.

Click to shrink...

I really don't have a problem with Windows. In fact, I love Windows 10 (I also don't have any problems with MacOS, but I prefer Windows).

It's just the ugliness of most business computers that bothers me.

 

[Pororoka]

I still have my Sony from early 2010s and I love how it looks and how slim it is (or was). Supposedly a business notebook back then.

I refuse to let it die.

Your laptop is fine though, it works. Everything else is just vanity.

 

[Pagusas]

*shrugs* we all use MacBook pros, they look nice.

 

[Replicant]

Because they are fully serviceable. Every part is easily replaced.

 

[Replicant]

If your IT department sucks or has no budget lol

Click to shrink...

Yeah no. Why would we buya laptop you can't even service a battery? Or replace RAM.

 

[Mendrox]

I work in IT, at my office many people have these tiny Dell XPS 13 laptops that constantly overheat, slow down, have no USB ports, and have all kinds of problems. I would have never recommended the purchase but they were leased before I worked here.

Click to shrink...

It's our standard device since 9360 (70+80) and I never saw overheating lol No ports is nothing new though and Dell gives you an adapter if you really need USB 3.0.

But we also only pay 1179 euros for the i7 4k Version with 512GB Soo...

 

[B4mv]

Yeah no. Why would we buya laptop you can't even service a battery? Or replace RAM.

Click to shrink...

Huh?

You definitely misread my post. I'm referring to VMs/Thin Clients

 

[GreenMonkey]

Serviceability. The IBM/Lenovo laptops I had at my previous gig for 10 years were all durable, pretty reliable, and the HDD/SSD was easily swappable for hardware replacement.

Also durability. The aluminum and glass and low-bezel/bezel-free displays and such is nice, but it dents easier than sturdy plastic. And the LCD with bezels help protect it from damage.

I use a 2015 Mac pro right now at work...guess how I replace the SSD if it fails? I don't. Part of the reason 99% of the company doesn't use them (also the constant issues with good AD integration, group policy, help desk support, etc).

 

[Mortemis]

I really don't have a problem with Windows. In fact, I love Windows 10 (I also don't have any problems with MacOS, but I prefer Windows).

It's just the ugliness of most business computers that bothers me.

Click to shrink...

I don't really have a problem with windows either, just not a big fan. It's still the premiere desktop OS, it's just that some of the benefits are not for me, as I don't use any enterprise software made for it and don't play pc games. I just find Mac OS or Linux my cup of tea for my work flow.

Microsoft has made big gains in improving windows though, and like I said before WSL is great. It's getting to the point where your dev environment doesn't matter anyways.

I just need a better laptop honestly. Need more RAM. 😩

 

[fieldafar]

I have an XPS 15 and it looks really nice in person.

But the Dell Inspirons range from looking okay to really bad, though.

 

[Galkinator]

Your laptop looks completely fine, not sure what the complaint is about

 

[Deleted member 41638]

Because you spend 99.99% of the time looking at a monitor, not the laptop case.

 

[CreepingFear]

If your IT department sucks or has no budget lol

Click to shrink...

You trying to tell me that a Citrix or Vmware VM is as fast as physical hardware?