Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Lenovo announces laptops using new mobile Xeon processors

arstechnica.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 103 posts

Re: Lenovo announces laptops using new mobile Xeon processors

#41

Post by dagw »

jmnicolas wrote: post #20
4ad wrote: post #11

Finally ECC memory in a laptop, I've wanted this for years! However, I am seriously unimpressed by the maximum memory specifications. 64GB?! I had 32GB in my ThinkPad W510, which was released over five years ago. I've also had 16GB in my seven year old T400. 16GB was enough for me back then, 64GB now is barely enough for me, it will certainly not be enough in a few years, although by then maybe we'd get larger memory…

What do you do on a laptop that requires more than 64 GB of RAM ?

I use more than 32 GB of RAM all the time for ad hoc data processing, analysis and transformation and personally I'd like to be able to do the same work on my laptop that I do on my workstation. Especially since I often divide my time between a couple of different offices.

Re: Lenovo announces laptops using new mobile Xeon processors

#42

Post by vardump »

kev009 wrote: post #14

The entire premise of modern computing is built around deterministic memory. ECC in laptops very long overdue.

I'm very excited about ECC in laptops, and want to buy one as soon as possible, but...

Shame it's released by a company which cannot be trusted anymore. I know the bigger blunder (SuperFish) happened in consumer laptop, but all things considered, I can't trust Lenovo any more. That means I won't buy anything they make. I miss old Thinkpads.

Is there any serious laptop manufacturer left at all? A company that builds good hardware, allows user replaceable battery / memory / disk, and doesn't include any crapware, or things you can't disable (like secure boot, Lenovo style hard disk file replacement, etc.).

Re: Lenovo announces laptops using new mobile Xeon processors

#43

Post by chao- »

kawsper wrote: post #31
creshal wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's very likely still going to have a chiclet keyboard – they didn't ask for user preferences on it –, but it will at least have a proper seven-row layout. Personally, I don't mind the chiclets – the mechanic is the same as in the old keyboards – as long as the layout gets fixed…

Do you know if they are going to change the touchpad? I tried all the touchpads on the current Thinkpad generation in a store, and I was so disappointed that we chose to buy something else.

For me the biggest issue is the lack of discrete buttons for the touchpad. I felt betrayed when Lenovo finally went the way of the "clickpad", which is the only name I have heard for the style of touchpad where the whole pad's plane depresses to click. I can't be the only one who:

1. Doesn't like tap-to-click on touchpads.

2. Prefers two discrete, easy-to-feel buttons over awkward clickable regions in the bottom corners.

Re: Lenovo announces laptops using new mobile Xeon processors

#44

Post by chuckup »

ilurk wrote: post #35
chuckup wrote: post #10

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 ser…

This is getting increasingly disturbing with each new generation of hardware. You no longer have the right to own the hardware you buy. Now it has become a service subject to their terms. That Windows Platform Binary Table sounds disturbing and is ripe for being exploited. Interesting info found [1]: > Lenovo Service Engine (LSE) is a utility in the BIOS for certain Lenovo desktop systems. It automatically sends non-…

Very interesting, thanks for that link.

"If LSE is not enabled, it will not be shown under the “Security” tab in the system BIOS and the user is not affected"

FYI, This was not true for me - there was no option in the BIOS regarding this. So I'd say, the lack of this in your BIOS setup screen does NOT mean it is not there!

Re: Lenovo announces laptops using new mobile Xeon processors

#45

Post by 4ad »

digitalzombie wrote: post #25
jmnicolas wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you do on a laptop that requires more than 64 GB of RAM ?

OP probably run lots of virtualization instances or is running a huge set of big data that uses RAM as a cache. I have 16 GB and I ran a cluster of 3-4 of Cassandra that are virtualized via Vagrant and it was pretty solid. Wouldn't mind 32 GB though. As for the big data comment, an example is the programming language R runs in memory... And yeah running big data in memory require lots of memory.

Correct, both are true actually. Normally I have my servers that do the stuff I need, but that's why I have a laptop with me, to be able to work anytime, even without internet connectivity (which is a pretty common occurrence).

Re: Lenovo announces laptops using new mobile Xeon processors

#46

Post by 4ad »

stefantalpalaru wrote: post #34
digitalzombie wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OP probably run lots of virtualization instances or is running a huge set of big data that uses RAM as a cache. I have 16 GB and I ran a cluster of 3-4 of Cassandra that are virtualized via Vagrant and it was pretty solid. Wouldn't mind 32 GB though. As for the big data comment, an example is the programming language R runs in memory... And yeah running big data in memory require lots of memory.

Aren't those workloads better fit for a desktop?

I stopped using desktops around 15 years ago. Being able to carry state around me is a huge plus. And since I want to minimize the state, I want to carry only one laptop, so it better be performant enough.

I have powerful servers where I run what I need, but sometimes (too often actually), I can't depend on internet connectivity, and have to run everything on my laptop.

Re: Lenovo announces laptops using new mobile Xeon processors

#47

Post by Shengbo »

vardump wrote: post #42
kev009 wrote: post #14

The entire premise of modern computing is built around deterministic memory. ECC in laptops very long overdue.

I'm very excited about ECC in laptops, and want to buy one as soon as possible, but... Shame it's released by a company which cannot be trusted anymore. I know the bigger blunder (SuperFish) happened in consumer laptop, but all things considered, I can't trust Lenovo any more. That means I won't buy anything they make. I miss old Thinkpads. Is there any serious laptop manufacturer left at all? A company that builds g…

Not really, I think we can say goodbye to user-replaceable hardware with the rise of the Ultrabook form-factor. A couple of months ago I was looking for a laptop to buy and I wasn't in a hurry so I checked out literally every manufacturer I could find. In the end I defaulted to Macbook Pros. The hardware is great and OS X doesn't really get in my way. If you want customization and prefer matte screens, System76 is pretty neat but they weren't available with the keyboard layout of my choice.

Re: Lenovo announces laptops using new mobile Xeon processors

#48

Post by dagw »

stefantalpalaru wrote: post #34
digitalzombie wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OP probably run lots of virtualization instances or is running a huge set of big data that uses RAM as a cache. I have 16 GB and I ran a cluster of 3-4 of Cassandra that are virtualized via Vagrant and it was pretty solid. Wouldn't mind 32 GB though. As for the big data comment, an example is the programming language R runs in memory... And yeah running big data in memory require lots of memory.

Aren't those workloads better fit for a desktop?

Only because laptops have often been too under-powered.

While I use desktops both at work and at home, I'd definitely switch to laptops if you could get the same power at roughly the same price point.

Re: Lenovo announces laptops using new mobile Xeon processors

#49

Post by vetinari »

SamReidHughes wrote: post #29
vetinari wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When did you see the Linux distribution like that? In 2000? Specifically Thinkpad laptops are known to work out of the box with popular Linux distributions.

The rule of thumb for Thinkpads and Linux is that you'll be fine as long as you get an Intel wifi card (or some other known quantity) and integrated graphics. For example, the NVS 4200M gpu hasn't really worked out of the box for me even on Ubuntu on a T520, nor the Quadro 2000M on a W520, without having to do some fiddling, or (later) knowing what specific packages to install. Optimus or certain multi-monitor setups…

Maybe we got lucky, but unless we do BTO, we won't get other than Intel wifi there. Maybe the local Lenovo representatives really like our market :)

The last time I've seen something unsupported was T400 with ATI/Intel hybrid graphics. I disabled the ATI part, as Intel was good enough and ATI was crappy under Windows too. (the ATI part worked under Linux, but the switching between ATI and Intel didn't. So it was use one or another until reboot.)

For your NVS4200M gpu, didn't Ubuntu offer you an installation of restricted drivers? I vaguely remember that when you booted on such configuration, there was an icon in upper right tray that did exactly that.

The T403s (yes, Intel wifi and Intel graphics) that I'm using right now works out of the box in both Ubuntu and Fedora. On the other hand, when installing Windows 7, it's good to have ethernet driver and tvsu ready at usb stick. (Windows 8 works out of the box too).

Re: Lenovo announces laptops using new mobile Xeon processors

#50

Post by riquito »

chuckup wrote: post #10

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 ser…

About thinking before buying Lenovo...

I've bought a Lenovo notebook, wanted to download a copy of Windows from them (it's OEM), and searched on their forums for clues, since I didn't find anything on the site. This is what a moderator wrote

> If what you wish to achieve is an OEM imaged system, the only way is to obtain official recovery media through official channels. There are no legal downloads available, therefore discussion of it is not allowed. You may contact Service (info and hours below) to discuss your options.

https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Lenovo-B-and-G-Series-Notebooks...

You must buy DVDs from them. You can't even _talk_ about alternatives.

Post reply on HN