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ThinkPads 2020 - X13 AMD - X1 Nano?

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Re: ThinkPads 2020 - X13 AMD - X1 Nano?

#51

Post by japhyr »

I was feeling pulled back towards non-mac laptops for a variety of reasons, but I think I just came up with a good strategy looking forward. If I were just doing my own dev work, I'd probably have a well-specced thinkpad running some version of linux. But I need to support people using all OSes, so I need a mac. If I need a mac, I'd like that to be my only computer, and just run windows and linux in VMs.

I got a 13" MacBook pro a couple years ago, when I started needing to support mac users more consistently. I was on a budget, so I got an 8GB version. I wanted to upgrade, so last fall I bought the last new 13" I could find online that still had physical function keys, with 16GB ram. I was having trouble running VMs effectively with the 8GB system. I would love to have 32GB ram, but I don't want to go to a 15" or 16" laptop.

I thought I would sell my old 8GB laptop, but I found a really good use for it. I work at home, and I have a multiple-monitor setup that's really nice to do extended development work on. I don't like to disconnect my laptop if I don't have to, but I want to work in other parts of the house sometimes. I realized I could just use the older MacBook as a thin client when I'm not doing memory-intensive work. It's been nice to be able to do more casual work in other parts of the house.

That got me thinking, though - with this setup, there's no reason I need a laptop to power the desktop setup. It's been over a decade since I've owned a desktop computer, but I think I might buy a mac mini next time I upgrade, and keep the 16GB laptop as a thin client around the house, and also have a decent laptop to travel with.

Any thoughts on this approach?

Re: ThinkPads 2020 - X13 AMD - X1 Nano?

#52

Post by LeifCarrotson »

SahAssar wrote: post #30
lostgame wrote: post #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. Ev…

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

They're not all gorgeous - 1080p displays with pretty poor color gamut are the default, and they still offer comically bad 1366x768 options for a base model. But some models do have 2560x1440 IPS glossy, 3480x2160 IPS anti-glare, or 3840x2160 OLED displays with 400/500 nit brightness and decent color gamut coverage (100% Adobe or 100% DCI, depending on the model).

Check http://psref.lenovo.com/syspool/Sys/i_pdf/ThinkPad.pdf for the specs of currently-public models. Most of the models after October 2019 in the linked document are not yet public.

If current trends hold, the not-yet-released T14/T15/P15 will all have an optional screen available that's pretty good. Some of the lower-price L14/E14/AMD options will only have options for crappy screens. And, the point that's most important for Thinkpad enthusiasts, the majority of the business-lease sales that end up on eBay for $400 in 2023 will have the crappy screens and/or L and E series devices.

Still, I'm curious what the "ThinkPad Thor-TP" might be.

Re: ThinkPads 2020 - X13 AMD - X1 Nano?

#53

Post by VibrantClarity »

raz32dust wrote: post #40
SahAssar wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

This. I tried using a Dell XPS and a Thinkpad as replacement to Macbook. But had to return both because I just can't get used to any other display after using Retina display, specially because the laptop is my TV as well.

The XPS and Thinkpads have both offered 4k for a few gens now. The real question is when Apple will offer matte screens. I can't stand the glare on the Macbook screens.

Re: ThinkPads 2020 - X13 AMD - X1 Nano?

#54

Post by eropple »

6d6b73 wrote: post #25
brtkdotse wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I've got a USB DVD burner hooked up right now. Easy as falling off a log.

Re: ThinkPads 2020 - X13 AMD - X1 Nano?

#55

Post by lostgame »

sail0rm00n wrote: post #28
lostgame wrote: post #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. Ev…

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

Super, super easy. Linux-distro-install level easy.

Since Catalina randomly decided to destroy access to about 1/3rd of my software (I rely on old-school music plugins that won’t be updated) - I’m gonna link you here to the Mojave tool: http://dosdude1.com/mojave/

This is not my tool, it does require a Mac to use, in order to create the USB boot key you put in your PC.

I have successfully patched about a dozen ThinkPads and Dell computers with this.

Due to the ThinkPad’s popularity - support for virtually every unit that can support it hardware-wise exists. If you have any issues, there’s a great community around it, and personally, after patching, I don’t even worry about .x upgrades anymore and leave auto-update on - that’s how far it’s come.

I literally prefer the Lenovo to the Apple hardware.

Re: ThinkPads 2020 - X13 AMD - X1 Nano?

#56

Post by pizza234 »

SahAssar wrote: post #30
lostgame wrote: post #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. Ev…

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

1080p is not "lackluster" compared to a 4k. It's "lower resolution".

4k consumes (more or less significantly) more, which comes at a price - see the widely documented XPS 13.

If one prefers super-high resolution, it's totally fine, but it's not correct to depict 1080p as poor for a work machine.

Re: ThinkPads 2020 - X13 AMD - X1 Nano?

#57

Post by zwayhowder »

SahAssar wrote: post #30
lostgame wrote: post #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. Ev…

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

My 3 year old X1 Yoga is 2560x1440 and I think it had a 4k option but I chose battery life.

Re: ThinkPads 2020 - X13 AMD - X1 Nano?

#58

Post by basch »

SahAssar wrote: post #30
lostgame wrote: post #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. Ev…

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

Careful, the 4K X1 Extreme has half the battery life of the 1080p model.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-ThinkPad-X1-Extreme-Gen...

Re: ThinkPads 2020 - X13 AMD - X1 Nano?

#59

Post by asveikau »

lostgame wrote: post #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. Ev…

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

Need to capture this rant here about part selection. My x1 carbon 6th gen shipped with a crappy SSD which showed random errors in dmesg and would occasionally cause the machine to reboot randomly. Then a few weeks ago after about a year of use it totally died. I googled the model number of the drive and found I was not the only one to experience that. Seems like Lenovo was not adequately testing that part for its impact on overall machine stability.

OTOH I was pleasantly surprised that it was replaceable, even though this is the "ultrathin" model meant to compete against Apple's soldered-in components. Replaced with a third party m.2 SSD and now the system works smoother than it ever has.

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