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ThinkPads 2020 - X13 AMD - X1 Nano?

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Re: ThinkPads 2020 - X13 AMD - X1 Nano?

#21
ThinkPads make better MacBook Pros than Apple-official products - by far and large.

I’ve got a 2017 MacBook Pro and a 2016 Lenovo ThinkPad and the ThinkPad runs circles around it.

It’s also literally a hybrid drawing tablet laptop running MacOS - so unimaginably useful as a creative - and something Apple doesn’t offer, unless you want half-baked iOS software (no Illustrator, no Animate, no Blender) on an iPad Pro.

Even if it wasn’t for that awful keyboard (went to the Apple Store, tried the 16” keyboard, still not impressed) - there’s a ton of other factors. (Not to mention the ThinkPad keyboard is so tried and true my 2016’s keyboard is nearly identical to my 1996 ThinkPad...)

From the awesome amount of ports, tablet/ink support (if your ThinkPad has it), great battery life, native updates (I‘ve not had an issue with .x updates on Mojave or Sierra/High Sierra), and about half the price for the equivalent specs, it’s, IMHO, the literal best of both worlds. Even the build quality of ThinkPad laptops is lovely.

I’ve never had a single issue with MacOS not running as well or significantly better than the equivalent Apple hardware, with the exception of SSD write speeds.

EDIT: Forgot to mention the #1 benefit - replaceable HDD/SSD and upgradable RAM.

I will not, on principle, buy a computer whose hard drive I cannot remove with a basic computing toolkit.

And I will also not, on principle, buy a computer that cannot be internally upgraded.

The environmental impact alone is preposterous.

So what if you make your computers out of aluminum instead of plastic if you design them to have no future?

I think, specifically, of the ludicrously-limited 128GB SSD models of the 2016/2017 MacBook/Pro.

Using that, for basic development - (it was sadly what we were given at the startup I was working at during the time) - was useless, by the time I put Unity and XCode on it, and started making builds, I daily saw the ‘your hard disk is almost full’ message - and what is there to do about that, except get a whole brand new computer?

Re: ThinkPads 2020 - X13 AMD - X1 Nano?

#22
post #16
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is it "ridiculous" to use a 10Gbps (or 40Gbps if you're spendy) bus to carry data? 'Cause I just sit down, plug any of my laptops (all of which have USB-C in, and everything just works. Windows, Linux, Macs (n.b.: this required a bit of a hack because they don't support MST, but it's not a huge deal)--sit down, go. Vendor-locked lower-bandwidth docking ports are an antipattern.

Because I can lock my laptop to the docking station, because it can also transfer power, and gives me access to many more ports than regular usb based docking station has.. and back in the good ol' days you could have a docking station with such ancient devices like cdrom and floppy - something that I don't need to carry around, but would be nice if I could access while sitting at my desk.

These days, there are monitors with USB-C style ports that both deliver power to the laptop and accept display over the same cable. And they also connect that port with other downstream ports like HID/etc (presumably a USB optical or floppy drive would also work here).

I'll admit it's not quite as satisfying to plug in the cable, but it's still very functional and stable.

Re: ThinkPads 2020 - X13 AMD - X1 Nano?

#25
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because I can lock my laptop to the docking station, because it can also transfer power, and gives me access to many more ports than regular usb based docking station has.. and back in the good ol' days you could have a docking station with such ancient devices like cdrom and floppy - something that I don't need to carry around, but would be nice if I could access while sitting at my desk.

USB-C transfers power as well. Are you really using cds and floppies in the year of our lord 2020, or are you just strawmanning?

I use them quite often, as I work with a lot of legacy hardware and software.

Re: ThinkPads 2020 - X13 AMD - X1 Nano?

#26
post #13
post #10

Hopefully they will have some Thinkpads with regular docking station not this ridiculous cable based solution everyone is trying to push now.

Why is it "ridiculous" to use a 10Gbps (or 40Gbps if you're spendy) bus to carry data? 'Cause I just sit down, plug any of my laptops (all of which have USB-C in, and everything just works. Windows, Linux, Macs (n.b.: this required a bit of a hack because they don't support MST, but it's not a huge deal)--sit down, go. Vendor-locked lower-bandwidth docking ports are an antipattern.

The one thing I miss about old docking stations is that they were basically a bunch of dumb wires. I've had to power cycle my Thunderbolt dock a couple of times because its software managed to hang itself.

Re: ThinkPads 2020 - X13 AMD - X1 Nano?

#27
post #5

Can't wait to see those AMD ThinkPads and I sure hope they also have AMD graphics.

I assume this is the new AMD 4000 line of laptop CPU/GPUs they're pushing out this year? I've been looking forward to seeing more reviews of these. So far Dave2D/Linus have only done reviews on the Zephyrus G14 (GA401) and neither one could say much since it was an engineering sample.

It will be interesting to see these come to market.

Re: ThinkPads 2020 - X13 AMD - X1 Nano?

#28

ThinkPads make better MacBook Pros than Apple-official products - by far and large. I’ve got a 2017 MacBook Pro and a 2016 Lenovo ThinkPad and the ThinkPad runs circles around it. It’s also literally a hybrid drawing tablet laptop running MacOS - so unimaginably useful as a creative - and something Apple doesn’t offer, unless you want half-baked iOS software (no Illustrator, no Animate, no Blender) on an iPad Pro. Ev…

Are you running macOS on your thinkpads? Do you have details on how to do so? Super curious if that’s the case.

Re: ThinkPads 2020 - X13 AMD - X1 Nano?

#29
post #15
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The T495s is already AMD and quite good and cheap.

I use this. I like it. Upgraded the SSD and added the motherboard max of 32G RAM. If you are using Linux on a laptop, you have a choice between dealing with NVIDIA's proprietary garbage or bad integrated graphics. AMD GPU on a laptop is a godsend.

Heh, I was hoping for the same, but in reality I get sleep issues quite often, subpar battery life, and overall unpolished experience... on AMD with Ubuntu.

Re: ThinkPads 2020 - X13 AMD - X1 Nano?

#30

ThinkPads make better MacBook Pros than Apple-official products - by far and large. I’ve got a 2017 MacBook Pro and a 2016 Lenovo ThinkPad and the ThinkPad runs circles around it. It’s also literally a hybrid drawing tablet laptop running MacOS - so unimaginably useful as a creative - and something Apple doesn’t offer, unless you want half-baked iOS software (no Illustrator, no Animate, no Blender) on an iPad Pro. Ev…

Do they still only have lackluster displays? Thinkpads maxed out at 1080p long after other premium laptops offered 4k.
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