Well if they during the copying lowered the price and added USB3, VGA and HDMI out and choice of beefier CPUs and GPUs, I don't see how anybody can complain :)
I used to be into high end audio, and spent rather large sums acquiring great looking machines. When apple first came out with their brushed metal cases, I assumed that Apple had simply copied luxury audio manufacturers of the day.
I still don't know why other computer companies don't try and design beautiful machines that have minimalistic design principles.
It's interesting to see the different ways that people respond to design.
When I look at that laptop I immediately think "MacBook". Then as I look at it more some of the details don't seem quite right and it becomes obvious that it is not a MacBook, but probably a copy of one.
Other's that I have talked to about this though don't see anything but the faintest resemblance to a MacBook. I suppose it's all a matter of perspective.
Apple seems to have been the first to use a unibody metal design specifically for a laptop. Since Apple did it first, HP could be considered to have copied by some people.
Then again Porsche Design did the same thing for mobile phones years before Apple or any other consumer electronics company did - my personal opinion is that Porsche did most of the innovation in this area.
Which model? Did Vaio later revert back something more conventional? As of 2007 Apple was using the same layout they have now and Vaio was using a fairly mundane PC laptop configuration. Side-by-side: http://www.notebookreview.com/assets/19478.jpg
Or is there some feature in particular that was copied that I'm not seeing?
Will all of the hardware features function properly in a unix (or unix-like) OS? That's the apple laptop feature I'd like to see their competitors copy.
It was shaky for a while, but yes. I run Ubuntu 10.04 on an Envy 15 and it works well. The two caveats are that kernel 2.6.33+ is necessary for patches related to the BIOS and ACPI, and a patch to synaptics drivers is necessary if you want the touchpad to work properly.
Very few companies make the effort to provide linux drivers for their laptops. That made me buy a mac in the first place. It would be nice if some distro were backed up by a hardware company and feature a "bootcamp-like" easy way to install windows afterwards...
Not sure if this is still the case, but with the hp laptops I own (especially ugly with the small HP mini's) the laptops looks good but they add the HUGE ugly power adapters.
With my hp mini the adapter is like 3/4th the size of the laptop itself. It's those details (a pretty big one in this case) that makes Apple products so good.
Apple's MagSafe is awesome.
Apple used to have really, really big power adapters, too. The one for my Mac Mini (G4) is enormous. The one for my MacBook is not especially tiny, but it is OK. YMMV.
I don't really care how many PC manufacturers try and copy the MacBook Pro, but why has no so far managed to make a decent unibody PC laptop? IMO that is the real desirable feature of a MacBook.
By trying to make a product too similar to an Apple product a manufacturer would open the door wide open to valid criticism about being an Apple knockoff company. By doing something different, they have claim to their own identity. But since (almost) nobody can beat Apple at design, that difference manifests itself more in getting more performance per doller (=cheap construction) or lots of products with special features (e.g. gaming machines).
Also it takes time to develop mass production capacity for something with a very different manufacturing process.
Why'd they wait until now to start copying Apple's design? We're well past the all-metal laptops that were the height of Apple's design prowess. I bought the first model of PB17 purely on design, even though it was only about as fast as an Intel-based laptop I'd had for a year and a half. But after an iteration or two of improvement, they threw that design sensibility away to go with plasticky stuff. ;)
The old models were horrible. No optical drive on a 15" laptop and the software used for the trackpad was horrible. It looks like they remedied the optical drive issue, I'd have to see if the trackpads work better now.
[+] [-] yread|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] skorgu|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ovi256|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nkohari|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] corruption|16 years ago|reply
I still don't know why other computer companies don't try and design beautiful machines that have minimalistic design principles.
Here are some earlyish examples I was talking about, but there are plenty more from other companies who I have long since forgotten: http://www.pliniusaudio.nzld.com/photolibrary/photo.asp?id=h...
[+] [-] chime|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] arch_hunter|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] markkanof|16 years ago|reply
When I look at that laptop I immediately think "MacBook". Then as I look at it more some of the details don't seem quite right and it becomes obvious that it is not a MacBook, but probably a copy of one.
Other's that I have talked to about this though don't see anything but the faintest resemblance to a MacBook. I suppose it's all a matter of perspective.
[+] [-] thmz|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nailer|16 years ago|reply
Then again Porsche Design did the same thing for mobile phones years before Apple or any other consumer electronics company did - my personal opinion is that Porsche did most of the innovation in this area.
[+] [-] cakesy|16 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] SandB0x|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] barredo|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] goodside|16 years ago|reply
Or is there some feature in particular that was copied that I'm not seeing?
[+] [-] unknown|16 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] lallysingh|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rossj|16 years ago|reply
I like Apple, but not everything they do is original either.
[+] [-] cturner|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mquander|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tfh|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] studioprisoner|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] barredo|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] TimMontague|16 years ago|reply
http://www.hp.com/united-states/campaigns/envy/
[+] [-] loumf|16 years ago|reply
It's not the copying that he'd probably find offensive -- it's the screwing it up (hinges and what's up with the keyboard recess)
[+] [-] matthijs|16 years ago|reply
With my hp mini the adapter is like 3/4th the size of the laptop itself. It's those details (a pretty big one in this case) that makes Apple products so good. Apple's MagSafe is awesome.
[+] [-] Tichy|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] epi0Bauqu|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] AngryParsley|16 years ago|reply
It's a similar story for the Envy 13 ( http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/05/hp-envy-13-review/ ). 2 hour battery life (estimated 5 hours with the huge battery). No optical drive. Terrible trackpad.
[+] [-] jteo|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] eightbitraptor|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sz|16 years ago|reply
By trying to make a product too similar to an Apple product a manufacturer would open the door wide open to valid criticism about being an Apple knockoff company. By doing something different, they have claim to their own identity. But since (almost) nobody can beat Apple at design, that difference manifests itself more in getting more performance per doller (=cheap construction) or lots of products with special features (e.g. gaming machines).
Also it takes time to develop mass production capacity for something with a very different manufacturing process.
[+] [-] fishercs|16 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] randallsquared|16 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] manish|16 years ago|reply