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I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012

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Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012

#181

Post by laumars »

unixhero wrote: post #39
iamevn wrote: post #19

A couple months ago I pulled my x220 that I hadn't used in 3 years out of the closet and got it all updated to do some hobby programming while visiting parents. My only other laptops were a work machine (X1 Carbon, I want to say from 2019) that I didn't want to travel with and a Surface Go that I didn't want to wrangle into having a decent dev environment. When I booted it up, I checked the most recent entry in pacma…

Well of course you fixed your arch install in a matter of an hour, you're a Haskell developer.

I’m not a Haskell developer and Arch is my goto Linux precisely because it’s on the of easiest distros to fix when things go wrong.

YMMV but the snide remark is definitely unjustified.

Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012

#182

Post by XorNot »

These days I just wish we'd go back to the days of easily removable keyboards, and several keyboard options for each model.

I'd like a 15" laptop without a weird offset numeric keypad I never use, and the old style short travel keys you used to get rather then these rubber things with no surface texture - like you would've found on an old gateway laptop.

Somewhere along the way, everyone trying to emulate Apple has just ruined things.

Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012

#183

Post by josefrichter »

djtango wrote: post #52
josefrichter wrote: post #21

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.

This might be blasphemous but after being thinkpad exclusively for the past 13 years (and my first thinkpad was in 98) but I find myself using the touchpad more and more when I'm not on my external trackpoint keyboard. Not quite sure why, might be due to slightly dodgy Linux experiences (x240 dodgy buttons and then now my sensitivity on X1 gen 9 is a bit touch and go) That said for regular point and click the touchpa…

It might be multi-finger gestures maybe? I use those a LOT on touchpad for scrolling, panning and dragging. Back when I was using Touchpoint, the trackpads weren’t capable of this, if I remember correctly. And they were like 2x3 cm in size anyway.

Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012

#185

Post by Markoff »

vurpo wrote: post #149
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…

I live in Finland, and simply by Googling in Finnish I can find several companies reselling used company laptops, and there's at least one local one that I can physically go to (I've bought a used monitor from there, and they always have stacks of ThinkPads in the store when I go in).

same here in Czechia, pretty much all refurb Thinkpad are from companies, my current T520 is from Singapore of all places, if you choose A grade is basically brand new condition just without brand new smell, they should use some spray :-)

my next laptop will be again refurb Thinkpad, for wife I would choose something like X240 A grade 8GB RAM, that cost like 250EUR

Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012

#186

Post by rmm »

My circa 2011 x220 thinkpad is the greatest most indestructible machine ever. It survived 10000kms of travelling on airplanes, the Indonesian jungles, underground gold mines and to this day runs like a champ.

Sure a couple keys are missing, a few superficial cracks but I will never be able to throw this guy away. So man memories

Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012

#187

Post by graycat »

hpd wrote: post #168
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 >

WOW! Thanks. Will try that.

Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012

#188

Post by Aldo_MX »

I updated my laptop this year and I picked the XPG Xenia 14, it ticked many boxes and I honestly loved it:

1. Easy to unscrew and upgrade (I bumped the RAM to 64Gb)

2. Has 2 M.2 slots (I replaced the stock SSD with 1Tb PCIE 4.0 for the OS and apps and added a 2Tb PCIE 3.0 for media and data)

3. It has a thunderbolt port, so it supports an eGPU

4. It is incredibly thin and light

5. It has a decent collection of ports

Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012

#189

Post by easton »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #172
j45 wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Try one out before you start with that conclusion

That's the thing, their USP is long-term maintainability and upgradeability, but if they call it quits in a year, you're stuck with a niche product that nobody else is willing to make parts for.

To be fair, once you hit 5 years (or if you’re unlucky 3 years) it becomes just about impossible to get OEM parts from Dell or Lenovo and you have to resort to cannibalizing broken ones off eBay or your parts bin if you’re in enterprise. So either way you could end up in the same boat, except if framework comes up with a gen 2 it’s possible with enough consumer pressure they’ll make the parts cross compatible.

Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012

#190

Post by bubblethink »

kinow wrote: post #75
iammjm wrote: post #53

I own a T430 myself and have enjoyed using it for a couple of years already. Very durable, reliable and upgradable - plus its just fun to use. I removed the CD Rom and put an SSD in its place; upgraded to 8GB Ram; got a GTX 1050ti as an external GPU running and connected it together with an external monitor, keyboard and mouse to a docking station. That way I can use it on the go and then just put it on the docking s…

Does the external GPU works alright? I have a T530 with a NVidia that I use dual monitor. But it's old, and Blender doesn't use it for rendering. Been thinking about one of these little egpu adapters, but don't know anyone that used it actually.

The gpus from that generation are quite shit. Nonetheless, the igpu version is better for battery life and linux. I changed my motherboard from w530 to t530 (igpu version) to get rid of nvidia.
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