My laptop is a 32 bit dual core from 2008ish. Just needed a new battery and an upgrade from hdd to ssd. Works pretty well for most stuff.
I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012
271–280 of 432 posts
Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012
#272I 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…
I personally find the value prop of my 2020 and 2021 model laptops, and my 2022 model desktop, to be rather good.
2020: Razer Book 13: 4 core, 8 threads, AVX-512, Thunderbolt 4. Weird gaming company, yes, but also competent thermal design and the machine works perfectly. This CPU when cooled properly is going to be at least 200% faster than that old Sandy Bridge CPU in the article, and that CPU has a much higher TDP so cooling an 11th gen properly is a piece of cake comparatively.
2021: MacBook Pro 14, M1 Pro CPU. The CPU that scared the pants off Intel. Say no more.
2022: 12th gen Intel Core. The empire strikes back. More than doubles the single-threaded performance of 11th gen Core in many cases.
And these machines are cheaper than ever. Competition works.
Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012
#273My laptop is from 2012 too. It has got an i5 processor with 2 HT cores, so the OS sees 4 cores. I upgraded its RAM to 8GB and replaced the HD by a 1TB SSD. Good enough for what I do.
I tried a recent machine with a modern i5 and the same amount of RAM and a 1TB SSD. The owner asked me to update the OS to windows 11. It didn't seemed faster than my laptop with ubuntu 20.04.
A 10 year old laptop may be still good with enough RAM and a SSD, but I doubt recent versions of windows will run well on such machines.
Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012
#274> I’d like to thank Intel here for making this possible. The CPU innovation stagnation between 2012-2017 has resulted in 4 cores still being an acceptable low-end CPU in early 2022. Without this, my laptop would likely be obsolete by now. Hahaha, this last sentence seals the overall tone of the article.
This.
Last January I converted my old (2012) quad-core Intel desktop and gave it to my son for gaming. The only thing I had to do was add a 1-TB SSD and put in an RTX-3060 Ti, and it runs every game (Fortnite, CoD, etc) at 100+ FPS without any issues. I'm still amazed that a simple GPU change and the machine keeps up with his friends brand-new AMD box (not sure what chip, just that it was new in 2021).
When the 12th generation intel chips came out last month, it was the first time I felt good about the future for chips. (Yes, I know AMD has been kicking their butt, but that's been in core count and power, which aren't as relevant for my son's gaming.)
Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012
#275I've had great experiences with Apple products lasting far longer than they should. I won a first gen iPad when it first came out, and six years later I would use it as an umbrella to run down the block to the coffee shop, and it would still work when I got there. My phone is a five year old iPhone SE, I've replaced the battery once and the screen once, and it's running great.
Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012
#276I haven't seen the ThinkPad L440 mentioned here.
I bought one a few years ago because it has the same benefits as a T440p but the value hasn't been inflated. It's part of that last generation where the CPU is user replaceable. The screen can be upgraded to an IPS if you can find a good replacement.
It's supposedly a lesser build quality, but the plastics seem great and mine's still going after my wife stepped on it. I have a bad habit of leaving it on the floor by my chair.
Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012
#277I 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…
Pro Tip: get Dells business models like the latitude series The business Dell laptops blow anything lenovo has ever made out of the water in terms of specs, build quality, and serviceability. Also Dell’s bios is way better and easier to do stuff in. I’ve had a t420 and I thought it was crap compared to the Dell business laptops. The cooling, plastic casing material, and serviceability just isn’t there. On the T420 my…
They are still a level much lower than Lenovo.
Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012
#278The T430 was the machine that hooked me on to ThinkPads almost 20 years ago. Having tried many newer models since then, including the X1 Extreme I use for work nowadays, I agree that they just don't make them as they used to. Ever since the Lenovo acquisition in particular, quality has gone down substantially, to the point where they don't feel special at all, and are on par with other Chinese mass produced brands. F…
> you'd think that coil whine wouldn't be an issue, and that TrackPoint drift would be fixed after all these years. To be fair, trackpoint drift (atleast as I understand it) is a byproduct of the technology, ie the trackpoint driver constantly recalibrating itself. I agree with you that the quality has gone down drastically though - I miss my X220t still after upgrading to a T480 last year. I've had my keyboard repla…
> To be fair, trackpoint drift (atleast as I understand it) is a byproduct of the technology, ie the trackpoint driver constantly recalibrating itself.
Possibly. It would be interesting to know if other implementations (some HP laptops, UHK, etc.) have the same issue. I haven't used it on any other hardware besides the USB ThinkPad keyboard, but it's disappointing that little to no investment was done in R&D to perfect the technology over the years and avoid this very common issue. Unsurprising though given the overall drop in quality since Lenovo took over.
Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012
#279My laptop is from 2012 too. It has got an i5 processor with 2 HT cores, so the OS sees 4 cores. I upgraded its RAM to 8GB and replaced the HD by a 1TB SSD. Good enough for what I do. I tried a recent machine with a modern i5 and the same amount of RAM and a 1TB SSD. The owner asked me to update the OS to windows 11. It didn't seemed faster than my laptop with ubuntu 20.04. A 10 year old laptop may be still good with…
Linux works amazingly well on these machines, fwiw. I have a modded x230 that performs surprisingly well with Arch. Ubuntu worked great on it as well. So many Linux users use Thinkpads that the chipsets are very well supported.
Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012
#280> Replace the display with a compatible 1600x900 panel that has better image quality. The current screen is awful
The TN displays from those days are so bad. Why Lenovo didn't at least have an IPS option for their machines (other than the tablets, which they did), is a mystery to me.
The T430S was the straw that broke the camel's back for me. Atrocious. I finally stuck to MacBook Air/Pro at that point.
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Lenovo-ThinkPad-T430s-N...
In the last couple years, they started putting decent 1080 screens in (sometimes the brightness is lacking, but my T480 is not bad at all), and they have a fantastic 1440p screen in some models.