71–80 of 813 posts
> 2. Linux support: I use Linux as my OS of choice and I have no intention of using Windows/MacOS If there is any leeway here, I would seriously recommend switching. You cannot beat the M1 MacBooks and macOS is close enough to Linux anyway.
These threads always surprise me with the number of people who buy new thinkpads. Nothing wrong with them I'm sure (well, maybe a few things wrong with them), I just never even considered it as an option. I recently picked up an old 2005-ish (edit: 2011 actually) x220 for a few hundred quid off ebay which seems to be running nicely. Specs aren't anything to shout about but it works fine for what it is. Durability wis…
The keyboard is the best, I have never used a laptop with a better one.
Using a dual core sandybridge is slow but if you develop on a slow machine you'll never build something your customers can't use.
You can install coreboot on it and remove IME.
It is on the list of systems Qubes (and every other Linux) runs 100% on.
The screen is only 720p but you can install a 1080p with a mod.
12in is borderline too small a screen size but the laptop is compact.
An extended battery in it gets around 8hrs of use.
Almost the entire machine is magnesium, aside from a strip of plastic at the top covering the antennas.
It can actually run 1600mhz 16gb of RAM.
Second hand ThinkPad T series gets a lot of bang for the buck (maybe not as good as they used to be, but still good, repairable, generally upgradable and very available as ex-enterprise machines). Good matte displays, good hinges and great keyboards. Don't sweat the battery, they're removable, upgradeable to larger ones if you have to go a longer time on a charge and easy to replace. For the change left over from $20…
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 or X1 Nano are my favorites. Small, light, but powerful. Before I used the ThinkPad X230 and DELL Latitude 7270, each for many years and bought second hand. The DELL was particularly sturdy. All of these are Ubuntu LTS friendly boxes. Avoid Microsoft Surface Laptops, which require patches to run Linux, Microsoft doesn't offer an Image ready to burn on a stick. And although I'm writing this on an M1…
I don't recommend it for the given price point. I included all extra options such as insurance and the extra disk space.
I found it isn't fast enough in general usage. Had problems running a serverless javascript project. External monitors with scaling will bring the iGPU to its knees. The display itself is too small to effectively program on it, and the CPU is not powerful enough to run a multitude of unittests or compile more complicated programs on.
I use my X1 with an eGPU and two 4K monitors. Webdevelopment happens in VSCode with heavy usage of the VSCode remote docker plugin. This enables me to run unittests and development tasks on a beefy PC.
Taken all together this raises the price quite a bit.
These threads always surprise me with the number of people who buy new thinkpads. Nothing wrong with them I'm sure (well, maybe a few things wrong with them), I just never even considered it as an option. I recently picked up an old 2005-ish (edit: 2011 actually) x220 for a few hundred quid off ebay which seems to be running nicely. Specs aren't anything to shout about but it works fine for what it is. Durability wis…
A few years ago I would have said ThinkPads but I think there are better options available now. At the end of last year I wanted to replace my T470, and wanted to upgrade to something with a more powerful (not U-series) CPU. The ThinkPad option that fitted my requirements was on back order for months, so I looked around... The ASUS ROG line of gaming laptops had exactly what I wanted, although they look a bit garish,…
2022 rog strix 12th gen i9 + rtx 3060
10/10 must Buy
I went with strix vs others because of power delivery. Apparently rtx 3080 is great and all but asus seriously fucked up because the laptops they put it in dont deliver it enough power and it gets similar performance to a 3060. So I just got the 3060, 300ms screen is mind blowing
The professional (T series) line of the Thinkpads are my go to. I've been running ubuntu 20.04 for the past few years. You can have hot swap batteries and an inbuilt SIM slot if you choose. Not sure if the fingerprint is working (I didn't select that option) but everything else works flawlessly. Side note: I have been maintaining an Ansible playbook for years now that sets up my developer workstation. I do know Ansib…
I recently wimped out of buying a thinkpad due to uncertainty regarding getting Ubuntu running correctly and the time it would take me to do it. Do you have a guide you’ve used or instructions you have stashed somewhere?
There were some BIOS settings to change first to get the machine dual-boot ready, nothing fancy so as I don't even remember what it was. Getting a bootable USB stick was more challenging for me!
Earlier quoted context omitted.
While these are good guidelines, I came to the conclusion that life's too short to spend so much mental energy on this. If your devices need to be charged - charge them. That's it, that's the only rule.
Lenovo has a tool that can keep the battery at around 70%. If you are 80% working in the same location, then it can really keep your batter life longer. If you are moving all the time, then certainly keep it charge to 100%.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 or X1 Nano are my favorites. Small, light, but powerful. Before I used the ThinkPad X230 and DELL Latitude 7270, each for many years and bought second hand. The DELL was particularly sturdy. All of these are Ubuntu LTS friendly boxes. Avoid Microsoft Surface Laptops, which require patches to run Linux, Microsoft doesn't offer an Image ready to burn on a stick. And although I'm writing this on an M1…
How are the keyboards on recent X1 Carbons and X1 Nanos? I have a 6th gen X1 Carbon (bought 2017) and I am in love with it. It just survived nasty a 4ft drop with only cosmetic damage. However, I've heard that the keyboards on the recent models are not as good. It's the only thing stopping me from getting a Nano... Edit: Linux support is stellar on the X1 Carbon, which is no surprise since RedHat issues its employees…