I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012 • Hacker News Board

Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012

#161

Post by kalleboo » Mon, Jan 10, 2022, 12:39 PM UTC

bungle wrote: post #15

> 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 had a similar experience to the OP with my previous Intel laptops - they've quickly get too hot and throttle and that would kill the performance. When they weren't throttling, performance was fine.

For me the big win with the M1 Pro was that I could work flat out and not worry about it overheating and giving up.

It's a lot easier for desktops to have adequate cooling and power.

Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012

#162

Post by samstave » Mon, Jan 10, 2022, 12:41 PM UTC

black_puppydog wrote: post #65

I find it funny how people seem to fixate so much on the fact that the author upgraded various components to say the title is misleading. As someone with apparently similar requirements, the take-away from this should be this: Even though significant work is required to keep these old machines working, some people prefer to do so. Crucially, they prefer it not because they love tinkering, but simply because the value…

HP Omen 15" is your friend. Ryzen and GTX 3070 - all SSD

Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012

#163

Post by smoyer » Mon, Jan 10, 2022, 12:42 PM UTC

One of the biggest reasons to keep an older laptop running is that they're likely to still support the S3 sleep state. I had a 2016 XPS15 which had good sleep characteristics, upgraded to a top-of-the-line 2020 XPS15 and it just sucks (battery) because it will only use S1 sleep.

Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012

#164

Post by eb0la » Mon, Jan 10, 2022, 12:42 PM UTC

lproven wrote: post #151

DoingIsLearning wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I like to buy ex-corporate ~5 year old Thinkpads, get from a seller who gives atleast 6 months warranty I am curious if this a US thing only. I mean, I've heard of company vehicles in second hand market but never company laptops. In my experience all these company laptops get decommisioned by IT never to remove any data, but I never really considered what happens at End-of-life for those. A few questions: 1. Where…

It's 100% a UK thing as well. Most of mine came from Morgan Computers, but I also check Tier 1 Online and Bargain Hardware too. I emigrated, and I have yet to find a good such vendor in the EU. Recommendations welcome!

I worked for a company that bought their servers from Bargain Hardware. Good service, and fast. No problems with hardware, of course.

Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012

#165

Post by thrower123 » Mon, Jan 10, 2022, 12:42 PM UTC

The most salient thing about this whole episode is that the author was even able to upgrade anything on the laptop.

I would happily take a little bit chunkier case like we used to have if that meant that I could swap out parts without having to use a soldering iron.

Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012

#166

Post by j45 » Mon, Jan 10, 2022, 12:45 PM UTC

Ensorceled wrote: post #155

Dylan16807 wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You make it sound like it's a kickstarter.

It may not be a kickstarter but it is definitely a startup in a tough space, being skeptical of its long term success is pretty reasonable.

Try one out before you start with that conclusion

Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012

#167

Post by mad182 » Mon, Jan 10, 2022, 12:46 PM UTC

I'm using X220 from 2011, it has i7, 8GB RAM and SSD, running Debian Linux.

I don't even feel the need to upgrade. It's in ideal condition, I love the keyboard and form factor, and for my daily tasks mostly involving terminal, text editor and web browser if feels snappier than many modern machines I have worked with.

I bought a new Dell laptop for my wife a year ago, and while the CPU and GPU are obviously way more capable for tasks like running games or encoding video, overall it just feels slower. It takes longer to boot, launch programs, even just switching between windows has some small delay. It probably would be quicker if I installed the same OS, but still - I feel better user experience from a decade old ThinkPad than new $1000+ machine out of box.

Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012

#168

Post by hpd » Mon, Jan 10, 2022, 12:47 PM UTC

graycat wrote: post #123

A laptop for software development or ANY serious work? No thanks. Instead I want a better keyboard, video display, and processor and want room for several disk drives, provision for more peripheral devices, etc. And I'm currently rushing back to the last update of Windows 7 Professional, a copy of Office 2016 (the 2013 version is fine except for Outlook that needs an update for a change in SMTP email standards), and…

For Firefox you should try a policy template to disable all together updates and the default browser check https://github.com/mozilla/policy-templates>

Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012

#169

Post by Demcox » Mon, Jan 10, 2022, 12:48 PM UTC

Being a frequent on /r/thinkpads I was delighted to see a fellow ThinkPad enthusiast!

Can't remember how many TP's I've had over the years but I'll attest to the older models being solid laptops. The newer ones, however, are disappointing.

My last good ThinkPad was a T470s with an i5, 8GB, 256GB (UNIX/Windows). After several years of (ab)use, I wanted to splurge on a X1 Gen3 and the specs were more than enough for my needs with an i7 (hexa-core), 16GB, 512 GB, 1050TI, 1080p 400nits display. However, when I got it and started to use it hardware issues stared to pile up. I went back to my trusty T470s and sold the X1.

Now I have an MBP M1 Pro and it's great.

Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012

#170

Post by jhgb » Mon, Jan 10, 2022, 12:51 PM UTC

maccard wrote: post #87

jbverschoor wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I dunno man.. You're comparing a CPU which costs as much as the complete machine (or two M1 airs). It's not portable has a TDP of 280W. Still it's 30% slower single threaded. For multithreaded it's 2.7x as fast. So yeah, maybe for rendering it's faster, but it won't be as snappy as the M1. Then again, if you wanna use it for rendering, just buy 4 M1 macminis for the price of one CPU. Or 6 minis if you add all the oth…

The claim was that laptops are on par with desktops, not that they're good replacement for many workflows. This is just flat out not true. > It's not portable has a TDP of 280W That doesn't bother me in the slightest for a workstation. > So yeah, maybe for rendering it's faster, but it won't be as snappy as the M1. Nobody who cares about performance is doing rendering on a CPU, it's all GPU accelerated. It's not abou…

> Nobody who cares about performance is doing rendering on a CPU, it's all GPU accelerated.

Has OSL already been ported to GPUs? You're implying that OSL users such as film studios "don't care about performance" but I suspect this simply isn't true.