Lenovo announces laptops using new mobile Xeon processors

#1

Post by ChuckMcM » Tue, Aug 11, 2015, 5:50 AM UTC

Lenovo announces laptops using new mobile Xeon processors
arstechnica.com

Re: Lenovo announces laptops using new mobile Xeon processors

#2

Post by ChuckMcM » Tue, Aug 11, 2015, 6:05 AM UTC

Ok, call me skeptical but I did not think Intel would get these out for Q4 of 2015. That 15" laptop is probably way over kill but it has some really nice specs. I think what I really want though is one of these bad boys in the NUC form factor.

Re: Lenovo announces laptops using new mobile Xeon processors

#3

Post by jcr » Tue, Aug 11, 2015, 6:34 AM UTC

ChuckMcM wrote: post #2

Ok, call me skeptical but I did not think Intel would get these out for Q4 of 2015. That 15" laptop is probably way over kill but it has some really nice specs. I think what I really want though is one of these bad boys in the NUC form factor.

I love seriously over-powered "luggables" and these machines might have impressive specs, but there's a big problem; a lot of open source folks won't buy NVIDIA gear due to the need for non-free binary-blob drivers. NVIDIA makes some impressive products, but they seldom play well with others, and they seem to have a real vendetta against supporting open source efforts by simply providing the necessary documentation. With luck, other vendors will also implement the mobile Xeon chips, but make a more friendly and compatible decision about graphics hardware.

Re: Lenovo announces laptops using new mobile Xeon processors

#4

Post by DanielBMarkham » Tue, Aug 11, 2015, 9:03 AM UTC

Being a bit of a bit-head, I love reading those specs.

Something caught my eye, though: "Screen options are 1920×1080 with optional touch screen or a 3840×2160 non-touch screen"

Is there a reason for this? Is anybody doing quad-HD touch screens? I never see them.

Re: Lenovo announces laptops using new mobile Xeon processors

#5

Post by morsch » Tue, Aug 11, 2015, 9:07 AM UTC

DanielBMarkham wrote: post #4

Being a bit of a bit-head, I love reading those specs. Something caught my eye, though: "Screen options are 1920×1080 with optional touch screen or a 3840×2160 non-touch screen" Is there a reason for this? Is anybody doing quad-HD touch screens? I never see them.

Yes. The excellent Dell XPS 13 (2015) is available with a quad-HD touch screen. (In fact, it's either QHD touch, or FHD non-touch.)

Re: Lenovo announces laptops using new mobile Xeon processors

#6

Post by efdee » Tue, Aug 11, 2015, 9:13 AM UTC

DanielBMarkham wrote: post #4

Being a bit of a bit-head, I love reading those specs. Something caught my eye, though: "Screen options are 1920×1080 with optional touch screen or a 3840×2160 non-touch screen" Is there a reason for this? Is anybody doing quad-HD touch screens? I never see them.

Asus Zenbook Pro UX501 has an QHD touch screen. Looks nice.

Re: Lenovo announces laptops using new mobile Xeon processors

#7

Post by zx2c4 » Tue, Aug 11, 2015, 9:23 AM UTC

Finally, ECC memory on a laptop!

Re: Lenovo announces laptops using new mobile Xeon processors

#8

Post by SamReidHughes » Tue, Aug 11, 2015, 9:26 AM UTC

jcr wrote: post #3

ChuckMcM wrote: post #2

Ok, call me skeptical but I did not think Intel would get these out for Q4 of 2015. That 15" laptop is probably way over kill but it has some really nice specs. I think what I really want though is one of these bad boys in the NUC form factor.

I love seriously over-powered "luggables" and these machines might have impressive specs, but there's a big problem; a lot of open source folks won't buy NVIDIA gear due to the need for non-free binary-blob drivers. NVIDIA makes some impressive products, but they seldom play well with others, and they seem to have a real vendetta against supporting open source efforts by simply providing the necessary documentation.…

That's not a big problem, because most people aren't "open source" people. The "open source" people won't even get wifi working. The real problem for Linux users is that the Linux drivers aren't good, or don't support Optimus (do they now?), and you get poor battery life or poor performance or you have to manually do configuration just to get a basic working system.

Re: Lenovo announces laptops using new mobile Xeon processors

#9

Post by zx2c4 » Tue, Aug 11, 2015, 9:29 AM UTC

ChuckMcM wrote: post #2

Ok, call me skeptical but I did not think Intel would get these out for Q4 of 2015. That 15" laptop is probably way over kill but it has some really nice specs. I think what I really want though is one of these bad boys in the NUC form factor.

In NUC factor with 4 gigabit ethernet ports.

Re: Lenovo announces laptops using new mobile Xeon processors

#10

Post by chuckup » Tue, Aug 11, 2015, 9:32 AM UTC

Lenovo is now using rootkit-like techniques to install their software on CLEAN Windows installs, by having the BIOS overwrite windows system files on bootup. Someone detailed this here: http://arstechnica.com/civis/viewtopic.php?p=29497693&sid=dd...

I had this happen to me a few weeks ago, on a new Lenovo laptop, doing a clean install with a new SSD, Win 8 DVD + wifi turned off. I couldn't understand how a Lenovo service was installed and running! Delete the file and it reappears on reboot. I've never seen anything like this before.

Something to think about before buying Lenovo. I searched and found almost nothing about this, so it may be something they started doing in the last few months...