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Lenovo ThinkPad T460 – A Good Linux Laptop for Development

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Re: Lenovo ThinkPad T460 – A Good Linux Laptop for Development

#241

Post by sarcher »

keldaris wrote: post #230
sarcher wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also still have a T400 chugging along with Arch. It got put in storage for a few years until I dug it out while recycling some other junk and realized it still had considerable life in it. I just set someone up with a T420 with a few upgrades and it's a fantastic value. Hardest part was finding a source for the rubber HD rails needed to swap a 7mm tall SSD in place of the original 9.5mm platter drive. It was techni…

> If anyone has advice on swapping the screen on a T420 please point me towards it - the T420 screen is, for me, the only negative. There's a lot of people swapping them (one example [1]), but I don't know if there's a consensus on which are the best options, and there's quite a few. I think the T420 and the X220 are by far the best options for reasonably modern but not yet ruined Thinkpads, but for both of them the…

I agree that there doesn't seem to be a consensus, which is why I haven't made progress.

The guide you linked to does seem to be more complete than the ones I've seen in the past, thanks!

The gallery linked was especially useful: http://imgur.com/a/O8ntb

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad T460 – A Good Linux Laptop for Development

#242

Post by steveklabnik »

I develop on a T460S. I dual boot Windows 10 and Debian Stretch, though Bash on Ubuntu on Windows has kept me mostly in Windows lately. I prefer this ThinkPad to the previous generation; it's back to having actual mouse buttons.

My only complaint is the lack of graphical oomph; gaming isn't really a thing this machine does, though it's okay at it. Then again, if that's what I was going for, I probably should have bought something else.

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad T460 – A Good Linux Laptop for Development

#243

Post by chucksmash »

brightball wrote: post #220
jclardy wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Similar story here. Used linux in my HS/early college years, but switched to Mac when the swapped to intel. Recently looked at the possibilities of using linux again, but haven't really found any hardware that "just works." There is that one dell ubuntu dev laptop, but that is a pretty expensive gamble at $1800. The best luck I've had for now is installing ubuntu on a crappy cheap Samsung Chromebook. Runs really well…

I've got a Dell dev laptop on order now. Hope to give a full report on how well it work soon. Dell has a 30 day return policy for what it's worth though.

I've owned and used both the Dell Precision M3800 and now the Precision 5510 running Ubuntu. They've generally worked well for me. The M3800 with UHD screen and discrete graphics generally sounded like a jet taking off when the fan was going. The 5510 is practically silent in my experience and works more reliably to boot (e.g. I have a lot less trouble with the new Intel WiFi card than I did with the M3800's Broadcom card). Your mileage may vary of course.

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad T460 – A Good Linux Laptop for Development

#244

Post by stephengillie »

keldaris wrote: post #207

I'm still using an ancient Thinkpad T400 I bought when they first came out (2007, I think?), and I still love it. Despite heavy use, everything works perfectly and the case could probably last for decades. Doing normal dev work on Arch Linux (everything from low level C++ to Python/Julia, but no web stuff) is pleasant despite the dated CPU. Every time I look at reviews of "modern" laptops or try a friend's machine (A…

I've used a T400 as my kitchen laptop for years, and recently put Win10 on it. I put my SSD in it, back with Win8. The laptop still works great, and it's my main PowerShell workstation - it's where I wrote my Arkdata player tracker static site. (Yes, I wrote it while standing in my kitchen.)

The market is the same, really. What you're seeing is the end of Moore's law, with 10 year old laptops still being effective compute devices. This wasn't true in 2005 - that 1995 laptop was painfully old.

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad T460 – A Good Linux Laptop for Development

#245

Post by ottobonn »

sevensor wrote: post #236
brightball wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've got a Dell dev laptop on order now. Hope to give a full report on how well it work soon. Dell has a 30 day return policy for what it's worth though.

I recently got the Precision 5500, which is great for the most part. The screen flicker is a trifle irritating, but I've had zero Linux compatibility problems. (I opted for Intel graphics.)

I just got one with the discrete graphics, and it works great with nvidia-prime. I only had to configure the touchpad a bit to avoid bumping it while I type. I upgraded from my beloved T420, and this is a great laptop.

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad T460 – A Good Linux Laptop for Development

#246

Post by NikolaNovak »

keldaris wrote: post #207

I'm still using an ancient Thinkpad T400 I bought when they first came out (2007, I think?), and I still love it. Despite heavy use, everything works perfectly and the case could probably last for decades. Doing normal dev work on Arch Linux (everything from low level C++ to Python/Julia, but no web stuff) is pleasant despite the dated CPU. Every time I look at reviews of "modern" laptops or try a friend's machine (A…

I keep buying refurbished T420 laptops; even though my employer provided T450, I cannot switch to keyboard without standard Insert/Delete/Home/End set - not to mention losing the Ultrabay flexibility etc.

T420 was the pinacle of the Thinkpads for me; T530 was a meh, T540 is the only time I've seen co-workers genuinely slam their laptops (removal of touchpad buttons etc). T450 brought touchpad buttons and some separation between Function keys, but the home row seems to be gone for good :<

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad T460 – A Good Linux Laptop for Development

#247

Post by VvR-Ox »

I have a Macbook Pro 2014 (new; i5-4 / 8GB / SSD) and a Thinkpad X220 (refurbished; i5-2 / 16GB / SSD).

Clearly the chicklet keyboard of the MBP is the best of this kind, I ever used. The oldschool keyboard of the TP (it is the last without this chicklets) is the best keyboard I ever typed on.

The touchpad of the TP is disgusting. I deactivated it minutes after first boot and haven't enabled it again. The Touchpad of the MBP is the best touchpad I ever used. The multitouch gestures work flawlessly, I never hit it while typing and it is big enough to use two hands (preferred for some actions).

So it's a comparrison of apples and pears ;-)

The Mac is better for grapical stuff and everything visual. It's OS & Hardware are optimized for that. It's Design is overrated as it is pretty but doesn't provide more aesthetic value to me than the good old TP, but this is very subjective and many may disagree with me in this point.

The TP is better for Linux / Dev / Coding. The keyboard has enough keys to comfortably control everything without a mouse. If you need a pointer, use the red knub. Once learned you can nearly "beam" the pointer to where it shall be.

Don't want to miss one of them, I love both <3

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad T460 – A Good Linux Laptop for Development

#248

Post by exabrial »

With Apple's hardware in the shitter, I'm hoping we see a rise of Linux-specific notebooks for developers! The _only_ reason I've stayed with OSX is because it's the _only_ mainstream and commercially supported desktop UNIX.

crossing my fingers for 2017... 10g ethernet, sd reader, USB3, USB-C, Thunderbolt, and a fricken headphone jack would be spectacular! It doesn't have to be super thin, just a manageable weight and functional form!

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad T460 – A Good Linux Laptop for Development

#249

Post by chrisper »

JoshTriplett wrote: post #51
karussell wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Didn't knew this, thanks. I also like the fact that the (rear) battery is easily replacable. Also something more recent laptops do avoid due to "the thin contest"

Recent laptops don't just avoid replaceable batteries due to thickness or weight; they avoid them because they want to cram as many battery cells in as possible, and provide longer battery life. A modern laptop chassis contains 50-80% battery cells by volume; every bit of the volume not occupied by other components gets filled by battery.

Being able to replace the battery on the go gives you more batterylife than a single cramed one.

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad T460 – A Good Linux Laptop for Development

#250

Post by philsnow »

Insanity wrote: post #193
StavrosK wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> you can never really be sure what is on the machine, can you? Yes, but "not sure if it has spyware preinstalled" is much better than "sure it has spyware preinstalled".

If you are not sure if it has spyware installed, you also do not know what the spyware is doing exactly and it could potentially be worse than what the spyware you know of is doing. I guess I could argue that the former is actually worse. If you know spyware is installed, you can opt to remove it. If you are not aware of the existance of spyware on the system, and it happens to have spyware, you are more vulnerable.…

consider that "sure it has spyware installed" also includes "not sure if it has _other, 'unknown-unknown'_ spyware installed". it's strictly worse.
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