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Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

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Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#31

Post by plafl »

frant-hartm wrote: post #8

For developers, going with Intel only (no Nvidia discrete card) is the most sensible choice. I have P15 and it's riddled with issues - not that they are not solvable, but it needs workarounds, restarts of X (logout/login), or running discrete only (which eats battery). The problem is they don't make the larger workstation laptops with Intel only.

I came to exactly post this. I previously had a HP ZBook with Nvidia Quadro inside and although I managed to get it running nicely I recently bought an LG Gram with integrated graphics and I'm not looking back. Both came with a Windows which I immediatly changed to Linux.

If you are not into gaming you can save big bucks and weight buying a laptop with integrated graphics. If you need a GPU for work you most probably need one with >8GB anyway.

PD: Why do so many laptops come with crapware instead of vanilla Windows? Why??? Why do laptop manufacturers tarnish their product so much? It remembers me so much of Android phones.

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#32

Post by notemaker »

plafl wrote: post #18
adamors wrote: post #10

> 7-9 hours of typing, browsing and some programming. > 3-4 hours of video/audio conferencing or other CPU intensive tasks. This is one of the primary reasons I can't even consider moving away from an M1 Mac. I used to love ThinkPads but not being able to use the machine for 10+ hours without charger is a dealbreaker in 2022.

This is a usually cited concern for so many people and I'm curious to know why because I rarely unplug my laptop, like most people I know.

This mindset is similar to what people with wired headphones think of Airpods et al. It's not an apparent benefit when you're in the bubble of thinking it's normal to have a wire going across your torso all day and hearing the thuds and bumps propagate through the wire to your ears. But when you buy a pair of wireless buds and have them for a week - you don't go back. You've discovered freedom.

Likewise, with battery, you don't think it's an issue now because you know your laptop's limitations and therefore rarely unplug it. But when you get the ability to do so - you'll start to adapt to your new freedoms.

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#33

Post by reirob »

tommiegannert wrote: post #4

> Lenovo is famous for their TrackPoint (that little red thing on the keyboard), but I am not sure if I’ll take the time to learn using it. Who's still using this? I removed the red rubber because it was leaving residue on my screen.

I'm using it since +20 years and many ThinkPads (had one Dell with a trackpoint in the early 2000s) - it's the thing why I'm staying with ThinkPads. If you are touch-typing, working on the go, in rough environment, then there is nothing better. Last 3 and half years I had X1E Gen1, was the worst ThinkPad experience of all the ThinkPads that I ever had (extremely hot, bad Linux support, loud, worst ever battery life, mirror display) - and the 1st ThinkPad in 20+ years that just stopped working after 3.5 years. Now I have the P1 Gen4, without Nvidia, the QXGA resolution and matte screen - and I love it. Was afraid because the key travel, got less, but I actually have to say that I prefer it compared to the previous ThinkPad, and it's less noisy when typing.

However I have to say that none of the ThinkPad trackpoints match the easiness and the precision of the Tex Shinobi external keyboard - it's just delightful how it feels, though, typing on it is very loud.

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#34

Post by Stratoscope »

tommiegannert wrote: post #4

> Lenovo is famous for their TrackPoint (that little red thing on the keyboard), but I am not sure if I’ll take the time to learn using it. Who's still using this? I removed the red rubber because it was leaving residue on my screen.

This is a bit like asking "who still uses keyboard shortcuts?"

After all, there is really no reason that anyone using Paint in Windows would ever type Alt+F and then A when they want to do a Save As...

Right? Sure, it worked for the last 30 years. But come on, who ever would type Alt+F and A? It has to be less than 1% of all the Windows users out there. And our telemetry proves it!

If you have a billion Windows users, and you rewrite Paint - as Microsoft did in Windows 11 - so it no longer knows the keyboard shortcuts that 1% of your users rely on, no big deal. You've only inconvenienced ten million of your users.

Or you hit Alt+F4 on Paint and you have an unsaved image. There is a nice dialog that asks "Do you want to save your work?" And there is a really common case where you were just using Paint as a scratchpad and you would like to type Alt+N here to say "no worries, I was just fooling around."

This dialog used to read "Yes | No | Cancel". And Alt+N let you say "No".

In later days, the dialog changed to "Yes | Don't save | Cancel". But with a clever trick, Microsoft made the "n" in "Don't save" the shortcut key. So even with the updated and much more clear wording, your Alt+N still worked!

Until Windows 11, where this code was all rewritten by people who never knew that anyone ever used these keyboard shortcuts.

The TrackPoint may be something like this. Those of us who insist on it may be small in number. But if it is ever removed, then the one reason why we will only buy ThinkPads is gone. We may as well get a Dell or an HP or a Mac M1 or whatever.

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#35

Post by yulaow »

Stratoscope wrote: post #13

I have two of these machines. They are very nice. Actually, one is an X1 Extreme Gen 3, and the other is a P1 Gen 3. Same machine with different GPUs. My work provided me with the X1E with Ubuntu preinstalled (that is our standard dev environment). But I found the hardware support very unsatisfactory. I use a specific display configuration. Three monitors in total: the ThinkPad's 4K display, with a 24" 4K display abo…

For the screens the problem could be related to the dp(via usbc)/hdmi ports.

Most of the times if the port is directly connected to the dgpu it doesn't work under linux (this is, for what I understand, a problem with nvidia and their closed source optimus technology driver that is very hard to solve)

That's why I always made sure to buy Linux laptops with only the intel or amd igpu, and without any dgpu. Yeah, it sucks

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#36

Post by go_elmo »

tommiegannert wrote: post #4

> Lenovo is famous for their TrackPoint (that little red thing on the keyboard), but I am not sure if I’ll take the time to learn using it. Who's still using this? I removed the red rubber because it was leaving residue on my screen.

Dont have to lift hands from keyboard. Great for the 0.5% of cases where keyboard only isnt enough for navigation with i3 etc

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#37

Post by atoav »

notemaker wrote: post #32
plafl wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a usually cited concern for so many people and I'm curious to know why because I rarely unplug my laptop, like most people I know.

This mindset is similar to what people with wired headphones think of Airpods et al. It's not an apparent benefit when you're in the bubble of thinking it's normal to have a wire going across your torso all day and hearing the thuds and bumps propagate through the wire to your ears. But when you buy a pair of wireless buds and have them for a week - you don't go back. You've discovered freedom. Likewise, with battery…

As an audio guy I tried, but I don't like the sound. My Sennheiser HD-25 cans are perfect for the road. The cable and the cups are propperly decoupled from the headpart, the cable comes as a plug and play replacement should it fail after 3 years of rough (including sports) use.

I have had one pair of these headphones for 16 years now. I wonder how airpods would compare in terms of pure surviveability.

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#38

Post by mateuszf »

rxhernandez wrote: post #20
tommiegannert wrote: post #4

> Lenovo is famous for their TrackPoint (that little red thing on the keyboard), but I am not sure if I’ll take the time to learn using it. Who's still using this? I removed the red rubber because it was leaving residue on my screen.

Me; it's far superior to anything outside of a mouse. And yes, I have a MacBook M1 (I didn't realize how poor the support was for Linux by the time the return window closed).

I'm curious - do you really consider trackpoint better than apple touchpads?

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#39

Post by Al-Khwarizmi »

tommiegannert wrote: post #4

> Lenovo is famous for their TrackPoint (that little red thing on the keyboard), but I am not sure if I’ll take the time to learn using it. Who's still using this? I removed the red rubber because it was leaving residue on my screen.

It's the reason I'm locked into ThinkPads and never buy other laptops, even if I might prefer them in other respects. It's immensely better (for me) than a trackpad. Faster, less tiring and more precise. To the point that for most task, I won't ever bother to take the mouse out of the bag.

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#40

Post by DoingIsLearning »

notemaker wrote: post #32
plafl wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a usually cited concern for so many people and I'm curious to know why because I rarely unplug my laptop, like most people I know.

This mindset is similar to what people with wired headphones think of Airpods et al. It's not an apparent benefit when you're in the bubble of thinking it's normal to have a wire going across your torso all day and hearing the thuds and bumps propagate through the wire to your ears. But when you buy a pair of wireless buds and have them for a week - you don't go back. You've discovered freedom. Likewise, with battery…

> Likewise, with battery, you don't think it's an issue now because you know your laptop's limitations and therefore rarely unplug it.

No I rarely unplug it because I need the screen real estate and the decent keyboard experience that I get at a workstation.

There is maybe 30% of my work where I can afford to work on a small screen and just work on it from the garden or a cafe.

Company issued laptops have become the norm but other than the occasional travelling scenarios most people still need workstations to get things done.

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