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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

#161

Post by sliken »

vetinari wrote: post #131
sliken wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a model with a normal keyboard, including esc. Even features a 10% larger battery and saves $200.

It also comes with only 2 USB ports, out of which you need one for charging.

So? Generally you are either at a desk (often with a display, keyboard, and mouse), or you are traveling lighter and don't need to connect many usb devices.

So for each desk get a widget that takes a tb3/usb-c connection and connects to your mouse/monitor/keyboard.

Basically an instant dock. If you really hook up more than one device, travel light, AND need more than 10 hours a day buy a little usb hub.

I suspect over 95% of laptop use is either at a desk or requires less than 2 USB-C/tb3 ports.

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

#162

Post by Chyzwar »

slantyyz wrote: post #71
ch4ch4 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except that you still don't know which generation of processor the MBP has- I still see tons of deceptive Craigslist ads for MBPs that have a "2.0Ghz" processor, with no indication that it's a model from 2011, which is not at all comparable with a "2.0Ghz" processor from 2015.

This is probably offtopic, but I hate, hate, hate Intel's CPU naming strategy for the Core i line. An i7 (U,M) in an ultrabook is vastly different from the i7 (MQ, HQ) in a gaming laptop. A lot of people don't realize that, they just assume that i7 means "fastest intel processor". It also doesn't help when computer manufacturers say "#th generation Intel processor". Unless you're keeping up with that stuff, how does…

2xxx,3xxx,4xxx,5xxx,6xxx,7xxx I do not see a problem with this naming convention.

Each generation have code name like Caby Lake etc.. but also corresponding number. You know that if computer have i7 6700 it is roughly 5-15% faster than previous generation i7 5700.

Just because Apple tend to hide this detail it is not Intel to blame.

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

#163

Post by StillBored »

slantyyz wrote: post #71
ch4ch4 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except that you still don't know which generation of processor the MBP has- I still see tons of deceptive Craigslist ads for MBPs that have a "2.0Ghz" processor, with no indication that it's a model from 2011, which is not at all comparable with a "2.0Ghz" processor from 2015.

This is probably offtopic, but I hate, hate, hate Intel's CPU naming strategy for the Core i line. An i7 (U,M) in an ultrabook is vastly different from the i7 (MQ, HQ) in a gaming laptop. A lot of people don't realize that, they just assume that i7 means "fastest intel processor". It also doesn't help when computer manufacturers say "#th generation Intel processor". Unless you're keeping up with that stuff, how does…

Yah, and then consider the m3/m5/m7, x3/x5/x7, Pentium and celeron brands are all still available.

Its the same with the xeon line, where you really have to dig into the details to know what the difference is between a E5-46xx and a E7-48xx. Early on it seemed like intel was going to use E3=1 socket, E5=2 socket, E7>2 socket, but then they started bluring the lines. And then there are all the secondary features like extended availability of a SKU which isn't even broken down on the ARK matrix.

Then of course it changes every month or so when they add a couple new ones and remove a couple old ones. No wonder everyone is confused, half us here are computer geeks, and we need the internet to determine the difference between most of the part numbers. To average users, its complete crap. Worse, since so many of them are similar, you have to look at heaps of benchmarks to determine if some random i7 is actually faster than some random i5/whatever..

Basically, it seems to me that intel has far to many people in product segmentation/marketing and they could use some serious housecleaning. Do we really need 500 (probably worse that that) SKU's varying in one feature or another? They could rip out every other clock rate stepping and no one would really notice, heck they could rip out 1/2 the core count ones too.

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

#164

Post by MagnumOpus »

enave wrote: post #124
jwatte wrote: post #59

Just get a Razer Blade. It's the same weight and form factor as a MBP, but black and with a real GPU. Run Windows 10 if you just want to get work done, or Debian or something if you need metal Linux (as opposed to VMs)

Is there a reason why the company spells their name with an "e" instead of an "o"

Googlability? (Like flattr, grindr, etc).

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

#165

Post by Chyzwar »

mverwijs wrote: post #134
antirez wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks, looks like things are better than 7/8 years ago.

> Skype on linux works well, last I checked. Nope. They (Skype/Microsoft) have not updated skype in years. It's still version 4.3, and recently on Linux Groupcall is problematic as all the other Skype clients got upgrades. Though digging around for a known workaround to that last problem it appears there is a new alpha-grade update for Skype-on-Linux: https://community.skype.com/t5/Linux/Skype-for-Linux-Alpha-a...

Alpha do not work very well. You still can install old 4.3 version, work better than new version under Win 10.

Skype need to be some kind of amazing mismanagement where with such simple product they keep losing quality. To compare Curse/Discord for games work and look way better.

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

#166

Post by qwertyuiop924 »

pmontra wrote: post #125
qwertyuiop924 wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Skype on linux works well, last I checked. Configuring a printer is pretty good, actually: for the most part, you plug it in, and it Just Works™. Networked printers are another matter, but by no meand impossible. Presentation on Linux can be handled by LibreOffice, Google Slides, or Reveal.js (which has become increasingly popular with developers of late) I've never had trouble with updating my system, and I'm on Arc…

Skype on Linux is currently abandonware and can't do multi party video calls, but MS is writing a new client which is alpha now. Still, the current client keeps working for multi party audio calls and one to one video calls and screen sharing, doesn't have ads. More important, it can be configured not to have all that white space around the messages. I can see two or three times as much messages than the Windows vers…

Ah. I haven't used Skype in a while, and was unaware of the new situation.

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

#167

Post by vetinari »

sliken wrote: post #161
vetinari wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It also comes with only 2 USB ports, out of which you need one for charging.

So? Generally you are either at a desk (often with a display, keyboard, and mouse), or you are traveling lighter and don't need to connect many usb devices. So for each desk get a widget that takes a tb3/usb-c connection and connects to your mouse/monitor/keyboard. Basically an instant dock. If you really hook up more than one device, travel light, AND need more than 10 hours a day buy a little usb hub. I suspect ove…

Nowadays, TB2 hubs are not cheap (200-300 EUR) and I don't expect TB3 to be cheap either. Just USB3 hub does not cut it, it will be a while until you will be able to connect displays using USB3.

Even today, I'm using two TB2 ports and one USB port (i.e. three ports on the computer) because: 1 x miniDP (no, most displays are not TB2 native and cannot daisy-chain with other TB devices), 1 x ethernet adapter (the Apple one cannot daisy-chain either), and USB hub for the rest.

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

#168

Post by qwertyuiop924 »

Chyzwar wrote: post #165
mverwijs wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Skype on linux works well, last I checked. Nope. They (Skype/Microsoft) have not updated skype in years. It's still version 4.3, and recently on Linux Groupcall is problematic as all the other Skype clients got upgrades. Though digging around for a known workaround to that last problem it appears there is a new alpha-grade update for Skype-on-Linux: https://community.skype.com/t5/Linux/Skype-for-Linux-Alpha-a...

Alpha do not work very well. You still can install old 4.3 version, work better than new version under Win 10. Skype need to be some kind of amazing mismanagement where with such simple product they keep losing quality. To compare Curse/Discord for games work and look way better.

...Or even Mumble.

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

#169

Post by philbot1008 »

yareally wrote: post #60
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...

If you're going to link that, I would suggest also reading the stickied reply by a moderator of that subreddit[1] that refutes many of the points made by the OP. [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/53ri0m/warning_micro...

My mistake. And thanks for the correction! I read of the story when it broke a few weeks back, and honestly it didn't surprise me one bit at the time (were Microsoft have attempted such a maneuver). I quickly posted the link without following up on the story... only to realize the err in my ways. Good looking out. Cheers ;)

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

#170

Post by EpicEng »

emsy wrote: post #133
EpicEng wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What kind of code? I live in C and C++. Processor speed matters when compiling. Of course it doesn't matter if you're writing e.g. js...

Many webdev environments I've seen are resource hogs.

Yeah at least my software is fast and lean once it's finally running.
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