I do miss the track point controller. It’s kinda like hardware vim: difficult to learn to work with, so majority of people don’t. But once you do, it’s an absolute killer.
I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012
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Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012
#22"To make this machine viable in 2021, you need the CPU, RAM and SSD upgrades at the very minimum" This is not really a 2012 machine any more. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus
This DEFINITELY doesn't count as Ship of Theseus. All those parts are designed to be replaceable on the Thinkpad. If you really want to talk about Ship of Theseus-ing a Thinkpad, the hardcore guys have literally ripped out the motherboard and installed a completely different motherboard with a modern i7 CPU. These "frankenpads" include the X62 (Broadwell CPU and motherboard in an old X61), T70 (Kaby Lake CPU in a T60…
> the hardcore guys have literally ripped out the motherboard and installed a completely different motherboard with a modern i7 CPU.
So, a CPU upgrade? How is that not what OP mentions?
The LCD upgrade is also on the wishlist..
Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012
#23No post body was provided.
Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012
#24I have a similar story about my 2007(?) 17" MacBook Pro, back from when Apple made serviceable products. This MBP have had many owners before again circling back to me. I have opened it up more times than I can remember and replaced most replaceable things, like swapping the optical drive for a 2nd hard disk (and back again), and even replacing the entire screen plus assembly.
"Old" hardware is totally usable for much of what I do today, but the number #1 thing that I would miss is the modern displays which are just so much kinder on my ailing eyes. Amusingly the keyboards are often better on my old devices, but the trackpads are not.
EDIT: the processor is 64-bit. I was thinking of my ThinkPad T42p (another heavily serviced unit).
Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012
#25Quoted post unavailable.
Any particular reason why? I’ve heard people complain about newer ThinkPads, but haven’t heard much negative about older ones, such as the one in this article.
They do seem to be very popular, and unfortunately for some operating systems they’re one of the few “safe” options with hardware support.
I personally haven’t found any particular laptop brand or model I particularly loved.
Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
This DEFINITELY doesn't count as Ship of Theseus. All those parts are designed to be replaceable on the Thinkpad. If you really want to talk about Ship of Theseus-ing a Thinkpad, the hardcore guys have literally ripped out the motherboard and installed a completely different motherboard with a modern i7 CPU. These "frankenpads" include the X62 (Broadwell CPU and motherboard in an old X61), T70 (Kaby Lake CPU in a T60…
> the hardcore guys have literally ripped out the motherboard and installed a completely different motherboard with a modern i7 CPU. So, a CPU upgrade? How is that not what OP mentions? The LCD upgrade is also on the wishlist..
> So, a CPU upgrade? How is that not what OP mentions?
Are you asking how replacing the motherboard in a laptop with a custom third party hobbyist replacement is different from putting a faster CPU in a CPU socket?
Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012
#27> The CPU innovation stagnation between 2012-2017 has resulted in 4 cores still being an acceptable low-end CPU in early 2022 I recently got M1 Max MacBook, and I was expecting a huge jump from my 2010 Mac Pro, but on my day-to-day work. It is barely noticeable, despite the raving reviews of M1. Perhaps for me it is not about things getting obsolete, but more of that my own needs on CPU/GPU performance were pretty mu…
If you mean Mac Pro and not Macbook Pro I wouldn't be that suprised. Single thread performance is mainly dominated by clock speed and possibly instruction set improvements. Having a much higher TDP there isn't much magic you can work to make a Laptop faster than a recentish desktop system.
Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012
#28> The CPU innovation stagnation between 2012-2017 has resulted in 4 cores still being an acceptable low-end CPU in early 2022 I recently got M1 Max MacBook, and I was expecting a huge jump from my 2010 Mac Pro, but on my day-to-day work. It is barely noticeable, despite the raving reviews of M1. Perhaps for me it is not about things getting obsolete, but more of that my own needs on CPU/GPU performance were pretty mu…
> I am a programmer, so my needs are not that high
This isn't true for all programmers. I'm a programmer, and until 3 years ago a good chunk of my day was spent waiting for compiles to finish.
> Or perhaps it is that after 12 years, the laptops are now on bar with desktops. I think the biggest improvements for me in last 20 years have been the SSDs and then the NVMe.
Not even remotely close. I have an AMD threadripper [0] in a desktop PC under my desk that I use for development. This is a mainstream, readily available x64 processor with 32 cores (and hyperthreading) that can sustain just 3.8GHz for at least 30 minutes (I've not pushed it any farther than that because I've needed to). Based on PassMark benchmarks [1], the threadripper is substantially quicker than the M1 Max.
[0] https://www.amd.com/en/products/cpu/amd-ryzen-threadripper-3...
[1] https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/AMD-Ryzen-Threadripper-...
Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012
#29I had a visitor over the holidays who needed to work but didn't have a laptop. I had 2x old T420 (released in 2011) so I combined the RAM and did a fresh OS install. My only hassle was finding a DP cable. Other than doubling the RAM, this was still a stock machine from 2011. CPU benchmark scores for this T420 are comparable/better than sub-£400 new x86 laptops available at big box stores which was the other short-term option. Our visitor has had no issues with the T420 for Zoom calls, Chrome and other general stuff. I sold the RAM-less T420 and was informed that it was up and running with fresh RAM at its new home.
Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012
#30I like to buy ex-corporate ~5 year old Thinkpads, get from a seller who gives atleast 6 months warranty, put new batteries in and they are usually far better in every way than anything new for the same price. Am currently very happy with my T460S, runs Linux or Win10 great. My previous machines that the kids use for school work and Roblox are x250 and x220, and previous to that I have an X200 and a T61, that all lasted atleast 5 years in my ownership, over 10 years old before they were sold on. I have noticed since my X200 a slow and steady decline in toughness (I presume in exchange for compactness). You do have to pick carefully, some models have terrible trackpads, often the base LCD screens are terrible for brightness and viewing angle, so you need to ensure you get the upgraded ones (eg IPS and/or higher resolution).