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Switching from Apple to Lenovo

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Re: Switching from Apple to Lenovo

#81

Post by majewsky »

TheRealDunkirk wrote: post #75
gamblor956 wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd venture to say that the overwhelming majority of people on HN can and do use Windows at home, with a minority using Mac, and a rounding error using *nix as their primary home OS of choice.

Well, I was going to say that, given the amount and types of coverage Windows and macOS get around here over the past many years, I would have thought the evidence pointed quite to the contrary. But you have 10x the karma I do, so maybe you're more in tune with what's going on.

If we're playing the karma game, then I submit that I find GP's assertion highly unlikely. We have a lot of people on here dealing with Windows in a professional setting (like myself), but Linux being a rounding error does not match with the discussions on this site in any way.

Re: Switching from Apple to Lenovo

#82

Post by gamblor956 »

TheRealDunkirk wrote: post #75
gamblor956 wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd venture to say that the overwhelming majority of people on HN can and do use Windows at home, with a minority using Mac, and a rounding error using *nix as their primary home OS of choice.

Well, I was going to say that, given the amount and types of coverage Windows and macOS get around here over the past many years, I would have thought the evidence pointed quite to the contrary. But you have 10x the karma I do, so maybe you're more in tune with what's going on.

I don't know why karma is relevant.

Windows gets plenty of coverage on HN, but respective coverage isn't an indicator of OS popularity (or language popularity, etc). If that were true then most people on HN would be using raspberry as their primary gone OS.

Most people don't feel the need to talk about using Windows as their home OS of choice. I generally don't talk about it either, except on articles like this where OS preference is part of the discussion, and even then only in response to connects like the one I responded to.

Re: Switching from Apple to Lenovo

#83

Post by gamblor956 »

majewsky wrote: post #81
TheRealDunkirk wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, I was going to say that, given the amount and types of coverage Windows and macOS get around here over the past many years, I would have thought the evidence pointed quite to the contrary. But you have 10x the karma I do, so maybe you're more in tune with what's going on.

If we're playing the karma game, then I submit that I find GP's assertion highly unlikely. We have a lot of people on here dealing with Windows in a professional setting (like myself), but Linux being a rounding error does not match with the discussions on this site in any way.

Linux is discussed frequently in this site in development contexts, but almost never in the context of home use.

Re: Switching from Apple to Lenovo

#84

Post by sitzkrieg »

bfrog wrote: post #79
TheRealDunkirk wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I ran Linux on the desktop for 19 years before moving on to macOS. I can assure anyone that it's perfectly serviceable as a daily driver unless there's some particular piece of software you need which isn't supported.

I find as a developer there are very very few things I need windows for. Every year I need to start up windows less than the last. High end PCB design is probably the last on the list. If I had to do ddr with bga SoC I'd probably pony up for Altium, windows only. For the 4 layer hobbies I've actually designed kicad works great!

ive been using kicad for everything lately as well but about to do a large bga and have the same thought

Re: Switching from Apple to Lenovo

#85

Post by revicon »

j7ake wrote: post #31

In my opinion, the apple trackpad is superior to all other laptops. And this gap between the trackpads make it difficult to justify a switch to non-apple laptops.

I'm surprised I had to scroll this far down to find this comment, it's the reason I can't switch away from macs. There is no even close competitor to the mac trackpad.

Re: Switching from Apple to Lenovo

#86

Post by thefunnyman »

Delk wrote: post #49
gamblor956 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never had to use my Dell (or Lenovo) warranties, because their laptops have never failed me. And they're all cheaper than their Apple counterparts of the same class. OTOH, everyone I know with an Apple raves about their customer service (in the US)...because they've all had to replace their Apple laptops at some point. Every. Single. One of them. Apple customer service is great because it has to be. If Apple did…

> And they're all cheaper than their Apple counterparts of the same class. I'm not really sure this is true. Last time I shopped for a laptop, the premium series ThinkPads (T or X series or so) cost pretty much the same as a similarly specced MBP. A Dell XPS didn't differ that much. The Apple hardware might even had a bit more oomph than a similarly priced ThinkPad or XPS, e.g. by having a CPU with a higher TDP. An X…

This is true, retail Thinkpads are targeted at businesses so they’re priced fairly high. I’m sure many companies negotiate lower rates. Most of the reason you see these laptops so widely recommended is the secondhand market. Once those businesses buy new machines, the used market gets flooded with the old ones. This, combined with the repairability and upgradability of many models makes them pretty competitive machines if you shop for a used one that isn’t the latest model. Macs hold value better, which means used models are comparatively quite expensive.

I’ll second your experience though. I’ve used many machines, including daily driving both a Mac and Thinkpad currently for work, and find I prefer the Thinkpad. It has excellent Linux support (even fingerprint reader works on latest Ubuntu) and an excellent keyboard. The trackpad isn’t as good, but I prefer the nipple mouse.

Re: Switching from Apple to Lenovo

#87

Post by thefunnyman »

nobleach wrote: post #14
allie1 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What distro did you run? I have been contemplating the same with PureOS

I'm not the OP, but I ran ArchLinux with great success on my Carbon X1C. Everything other than the fingerprint reader were recognized and "just worked". I did also try Manjaro for a few months. It was not too bad either. I did have to fiddle with a few more things to get sound working properly (when I plugged into an external monitor).

I had an older X1 yoga that ran Arch great. I now have a newer X1 yoga and got lazy and just threw Ubuntu on it. Since 20.04 everything including fingerprint reader is working great.

Re: Switching from Apple to Lenovo

#88

Post by likeclockwork »

gamblor956 wrote: post #83
majewsky wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If we're playing the karma game, then I submit that I find GP's assertion highly unlikely. We have a lot of people on here dealing with Windows in a professional setting (like myself), but Linux being a rounding error does not match with the discussions on this site in any way.

Linux is discussed frequently in this site in development contexts, but almost never in the context of home use.

I think this forum is borderline hostile to "Linux for home use" discussions. We're here though.

Re: Switching from Apple to Lenovo

#89

Post by microtonal »

ValentineC wrote: post #69
jevgeni wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My experience with Apple (in Germany) was mostly opposite: when I ran into hardware issues it made more sense to go to Apple's long term exclusive partners in the region, than into an Apple store, where I'd run into completely disinterested and barely competent Genius Bar interns.

I warn people against going to Apple authorised service providers in Singapore. Most of them haven't been very ethical in their business — I've heard numerous cases of the authorised providers charging for additional labour and parts to replace an out-of-warranty MacBook battery, while the Genius Bar does it for a flat fee [1]. [1] https://support.apple.com/en-sg/mac/repair/service

Don't get me started. The ones I had experience with in The Netherlands were also terrible. On a MacBook Air 2012, my 'f' key would always get stuck. I went to our local Apple authorized service provider, which was also the store where I bought the MacBook Air.

First they tried to put the blame on me, arguing that I removed the keycap before (I didn't). When they were finally willing to repair the laptop, they first gave me a lecture about how I should thank them for making an exception, because they were not obliged to repair the keyboard if I damaged the key by removing a keycap (which again, I didn't).

Re: Switching from Apple to Lenovo

#90

Post by Delk »

thefunnyman wrote: post #86
Delk wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And they're all cheaper than their Apple counterparts of the same class. I'm not really sure this is true. Last time I shopped for a laptop, the premium series ThinkPads (T or X series or so) cost pretty much the same as a similarly specced MBP. A Dell XPS didn't differ that much. The Apple hardware might even had a bit more oomph than a similarly priced ThinkPad or XPS, e.g. by having a CPU with a higher TDP. An X…

This is true, retail Thinkpads are targeted at businesses so they’re priced fairly high. I’m sure many companies negotiate lower rates. Most of the reason you see these laptops so widely recommended is the secondhand market. Once those businesses buy new machines, the used market gets flooded with the old ones. This, combined with the repairability and upgradability of many models makes them pretty competitive machin…

I'm fine with the trackpad. It might not seem as high quality (feels a bit floppy somehow), but the click sensitivity is fairly consistent and it feels comfortable to me. Some other laptops I've used e.g. for work have had trackpads where clicking required too much force to feel comfortable, or the force required felt inconsistent. I prefer this one over those.

Some older ThinkPad model I used at a previous job had a horrendous trackpad, though.

I picked the ThinkPad for personal use largely because of Linux compatibility, too. MacOS might be fine, but if you end up not wanting to use that, going back over to Linux might require way more effort than I was willing to put up with, even if the hardware itself would probably have been a fine choice.

Also, matte screens.

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