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Apple Sucks Now, Here’s a ThinkPad Buyer’s Guide

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Re: Apple Sucks Now, Here’s a ThinkPad Buyer’s Guide

#101

Post by sliken »

kyriakos wrote: post #4
Apreche wrote: post #3

Since Lenovo preinstalled spyware/malware they can no longer be trusted.

the problem with this argument is that any manufacturer can be preinstalling spyware in the future and you won't know until it becomes public. Lenovo did but apparently stopped after it got caught. My point is that all OEM's are on the same boat.

Lenovo seems pretty unique and adding ugly hacks to their hardware (like disabling ACHI), and then changing the PCI ID of a "fake raid" chip. So not only does this break linux, but it also breaks the standard release of windows.

So even if you want to install MS Windows from official microsoft media, you can't.

Why would lenovo would disable AHCI (which breaks windows and linux), then mess with a fake RAID (despite having a single storage device).

Seems like Lenovo REALLY doesn't want consumers reinstalling the OS.... makes one wonder.

Re: Apple Sucks Now, Here’s a ThinkPad Buyer’s Guide

#103

Post by dewiz »

I was very disappointed too, however I've seen similar disappointments when Apple dropped CDROM, usb, audio jacks etc. Eventually everyone gets used to it, and admittedly they are trying to simplify the keyboard IMHO. I'm super happy to have bought a maxed out mbp15 before not too long ago, so I won't have to deal with the devices/adaptors market catching up to Apple. And BTW, looks like the disappointment is all around the keyboard. FWIW I use an external KB most of the time so I wouldn't care even if I upgraded and lose my Fx keys. Anyway Linux is not ready to replace MacOS simply because it lacks many apps, Windows...well that's a joke for your battery and its Bash implementation is still too young, let's see in 3 years from now. My 2 cents, ymmv

Re: Apple Sucks Now, Here’s a ThinkPad Buyer’s Guide

#104

Post by sliken »

criddell wrote: post #11
rhizome wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They didn't do that on Thinkpads, though.

It's the same company though. I have two Thinkpads (I'm typing on a T520 right now) and today I wouldn't buy another. Even if you want to give them a pass for unethical behavior, Lenovo still installs a lot of extra software that you don't really need. If you do buy a Thinkpad, I recommend reformatting the machine and doing a stock Windows install.

Sadly this is becoming very hard with lenovo ideapad and yoga. I fear this is coming for the thinkpads as well.

They seem to claim performance/battery improvements with their magic single disk "RAID" interface. Doubly dubious because said device just binds with the windows software raid driver.

What is worse is lenovo disables the included AHCI (breaking both Linux and Windows), so you have to use their install media to install the OS. Which of course installs whatever crap the original laptop came with.

Re: Apple Sucks Now, Here’s a ThinkPad Buyer’s Guide

#105

Post by antirez »

spott wrote: post #98
antirez wrote: post #23

There are many good hardware choices at this point in order to replace a Macbook. What is entirely not clear is what software to use to replace a Macbook.

Good recommendations? I can't think of any that have the reputation of Apple when it comes to support or build quality, but I also haven't looked beyond apple for almost 10 years.

My only guess is that a mix of Windows 10 and Linux is needed, there are multiple solutions:

1. Run Windows 10 and Linux in multi boot, use Linux normally, Windows when you need stuff that are not available on Linux.

2. Run Windows and use VMs to have a Linux development environment.

3. Run Windows with some Unix-alike layer, like the one introduced in Windows 10 or something.

I think for me it's "1", I don't think I'll be able to use Windows on a daily basis, since I still see people that install things like anti-malware/virus. I can't go back 15 years in computing experience easily.

P.S. Note how people that need to develop for Apple devices, like mobile devs, don't have any way out of the Apple ecosystem, since the SDKs are Macos-only.

Re: Apple Sucks Now, Here’s a ThinkPad Buyer’s Guide

#106

Post by gambiting »

"I need to edit video or do other work that is CPU and memory intensive

A laptop is not for you. Here’s PCPartPicker. Build your own desktop. It’s like Lego, but for adults."

Yeah, cool, let me know when I can take a desktop in my hand luggage. There are people who legitimately need a lot of CPU power and lots of ram in a laptop - and there are products for them ( http://www.eurocom.com/ec/configure(2,270,0)ec ) being dismissive is not helpful.

Re: Apple Sucks Now, Here’s a ThinkPad Buyer’s Guide

#107

Post by stock_toaster »

callahad wrote: post #36
fluxsauce wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Edit - never mind, found it. Dell has some dead links. I've been keeping an eye on the XPS 13, but it looks like the "Developer Edition" has gone away. Do you know what the current equivalent is?

For others: The XPS 13 "Developer Edition" has been rolled into the mainline XPS 13, and only appears under the "Shop for Work" facet of their online store. For folks in the US, visit http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/xps-13-9360-laptop/pd and filter by Operating System -> Ubuntu

Huh. Looks like you still have to get the touchscreen model to get a configuration with 16gb ram. I was hoping they would allow that by now, but it still looks like 8gb soldered in ram is the only option for the FHD (non-touch) display.

Re: Apple Sucks Now, Here’s a ThinkPad Buyer’s Guide

#108

Post by jerf »

ceor4 wrote: post #42
marklyon wrote: post #2

In addition to Lenovo, consider the XPS 13 and 15. While Dell's quality has been somewhat inconsistent as they launched the line, they stepped up and took care of the problem I encoutered with my XPS 13 and it's quickly become my favorite laptop ever. Great battery life, super portable, an external battery for long flights and an AMAZING screen. It even supports touch, which I don't use all the time, but find nice to…

How's linux support in the XPS 15?

I'm currently running Ubuntu 16.04 on it, and everything I've tried works. But it has taken some fiddling. (I have swapped the wireless for [1] on the advice of a coworker that didn't even like the way the stock one worked on Windows.) I can't vouch for the USB3, Thunderbolt, or Bluetooth because I haven't tried it. Also stock Ubuntu can't control the backlight brightness but xbacklight can, so it seems to be an Ubuntu issue rather than Linux.

It also installed next to Windows pretty well, once I turned off Secure Boot in the Bios. Grub worked without hassle. You may also have some fiddling with the AHCI vs. RAID sections in the BIOS; google around for info on that. You may also need to reinstall Windows 10 from scratch to avoid issues with "locked blocks" on the main hard drive so you can shrink partitions, and to deal with the switch from "RAID" to "AHCI" (not strictly necessary but if you're going to reinstall anyhow it works). Depends on the line up.

I do recommend that if you get one, you figure out whether you're going to dual-boot immediately, before you "move into" Windows. It's much easier to put together a dual-boot setup with a fresh install of Windows 10, I found. (And it's actually Window's fault, not Linux's, for refusing to evacuate enough of the drive.) If you do plan to reinstall windows, go to the Dell driver page, grab all the relevant ones, and stick them on the Windows 10 installation USB stick you make. (There's a tool from Microsoft that just lets you download the Windows 10 install media, then picks up the license off the motherboard.)

Also, I found you will have to install a particular BIOS to make sure you don't get this weird and very annoying screen flicker where it dims for a couple of frames every ten seconds or so; A06 I think from the BIOS page.

It has not been the smoothest trip. But then, getting Linux running on a laptop perfectly never is. But I have ended up with a satisfactory primarily-Linux system. (I boot into Windows for games. Dual-boot is less frustrating when booting is so fast; I counted 32 seconds to hibernate Linux, reboot into Windows, and have Steam up and functioning. It's actually faster for me to do that from Linux than to start up my PS3 and be playing a game from a cold AV system start.)

[1]: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0167N9R8E/ref=oh_aui_sear...

Re: Apple Sucks Now, Here’s a ThinkPad Buyer’s Guide

#109

Post by sliken »

erk__ wrote: post #54
philbot1008 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Buy from the Microsoft Store and you may get a bios-locked laptop that can only run Windows 10. https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/53ri0m/warning_micro...

This is pretty outdated now Lenovo has released a bios update for the laptop in question.

What does the new BIOS do?

Re: Apple Sucks Now, Here’s a ThinkPad Buyer’s Guide

#110

Post by vetinari »

mschuster91 wrote: post #76
barongrounds wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Make sure you replace the worthless Broadcom wifi chip with an Intel. It's puzzling that Dell would cheap out on an otherwise excellent machine. At least swapping them out is an easy job.

At least the Broadcom chipsets can do soft-AP mode on Linux, something that IIRC even the top-notch Intel chipsets can't.

Are you sure about that? In the past, I've used Centrino N6205 in AP mode to share internet connection of the Thinkpads T430s 3G modem.

iw info also says, that it supports AP mode.

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