Live data from Hacker News

Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

ernestas.me

91–100 of 492 posts

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#91

> 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).

> Me; it's far superior to anything outside of a mouse.

I used to love the track point - it felt so efficient to have my pointing device right on the home row of the keyboard.

Eventually I realised it was the cause of some pretty bad RSI (or something) in my index finger. Now I have to remove the plastic cap to stop myself from using it.

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#92

I find it rather peculiar that tech folks think a plastic laptop is good build quality considering what we have from Apple and others. I wish more linux laptops had the build quality and support of macbooks. This isn't a rant from an Apple fan, this is a rant from a laptop fan. ThinkPad's aren't good laptops despite what the guy with the pocket protector says. They are flimsy and feel cheap. They still have 20th cent…

Just for comparison consider fishing rods:

- cheap: plastic

- decent: aluminium

- better: magnesium, carbon,...

> they feel cheap

You mean they don't feel heavy. Some people confuse that for cheap. Similarly macs look like good engineering, but ...

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#93

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.

> The problem is they don't make the larger workstation laptops with Intel only. This might be a Lenovo-only problem. With Dell, you can customise-to-order a Precision 7760 with an 8-core Xeon, 128 GB unbuffered ECC memory, a lot of storage, and no discrete graphics card, if you so desire. Many of these options aren't available on the site, but you can always call/chat in and from my experience, Dell will be happy to…

That is IMO a very shitty experience, why would they do this when they already have an online shop where you can configure stuff? You cant blame people people for not knowing this when such thing is gatekeeped. IMO fuck dell for that approach

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you need such a build quality? Do you toss around your laptops? Do you keep dropping your laptop? My question is what is the use of such a build quality (apart from the very subjective - "it feels good")

I absolutely do those things all the time as somebody who is naturally clumsy and a heavy mobility user. A laptop that can survive some light abuse, which both MacBooks and Thinkpad's can is an absolute requirement for me. I can't tell you how many times in my life I've seen a laptop come crashing to the ground. For somebody like me MagSafe is an actual competitive advantage because of the multiple laptop charging po…

I got a USB-C magnetic adapter/interposer from eBay for my laptop. It's pretty handy, and it means I can still unplug the USB-C supply from the adapter and charge my phone if I need to.

And I also like the right angle nature of the thing because of my my desk works.

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#95
post #31

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…

I also own a ZBook and I looked at an LG Gram as a possible replacement in case something happens to my laptop. I use the 3 physical buttons (click, paste - a Linux thing, right click) and the LG doesn't have them. That made me immediately discard the idea. On the other side this Lenovo has the physical buttons. I wonder how terrible the touchpad actually is. I only need to move the pointer and scroll. No gestures, no clicks.

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#96

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.

> For developers, going with Intel only (no Nvidia discrete card) is the most sensible choice. Absolutely not. Even the latest gen Intel ThinkPads are power-hungry and wasteful. They either throttle to shit, run way too hot or run way too loud and you have increasingly terrible battery life in all three cases. AMD resolves a few of those problems, you get more with the same power consumption, but still a good few ste…

As I don't think Linux on an m1 Mac is going to be viable in the near term - I don't think it's all that relevant as a Linux workstation?

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#97
I've been holding off on purchasing a new Lenovo laptop. Shortly Lenovo will start shipping latops with the new generation AMD Ryzen mobile chips that have RDNA 2 GPUs. [0][1] This is a real game changer.

The amount of power and open source VULKAN friendliness is going to be incredible.

I look forward to being able to do container work, and emulate Gamecube games all on a single Linux machine.

[0] https://www.aroged.com/2022/04/16/lenovo-thinkpad-t14s-gen-3... [1] https://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-ThinkPad-Z13-Exclusive-...

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#98

I find it rather peculiar that tech folks think a plastic laptop is good build quality considering what we have from Apple and others. I wish more linux laptops had the build quality and support of macbooks. This isn't a rant from an Apple fan, this is a rant from a laptop fan. ThinkPad's aren't good laptops despite what the guy with the pocket protector says. They are flimsy and feel cheap. They still have 20th cent…

I make a distinction between "Plastic" and "Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer with a magnesium roll cage" that this laptop uses. We don't think an aluminium bike is better than a carbon fibre bike, so why is an aluminium laptop better than a carbon fibre laptop? I mean aluminium has some nice advantages like heat dissipation but CFRP allows for much lighter laptops. If anything I prefer CRFP because of the weight advan…

Aluminum for me is a big no-no considering that I always get static discharge from them.

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#99
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.

When I owned a Mac laptop a decade ago, I always had my laptop positioned near a power outlet. When I got laptops with more battery life, the charger is now used to charge the laptop overnight so I can use it throughout the next day. If you never use your battery, why own a laptop at all? Why not buy a Mac mini or an iMac?

A battery is nice as an integrated UPS, to be able to move the machine between rooms, put it into a bag for hours and resume from suspend in a different place without having to restart every single application, same thing over a night.

About Macs, in my case I never liked their GUI since the very first Mac (the top bar, the menu, etc) and that's an instantaneous show stopper.

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#100

> 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 use it. It lets me keep my hands on the home row, which is great when I need to alternate between clicking and typing. And the pointing stick is great ergonomically, if you're using your laptop in any kind of mobile setting. You don't have to contort your hands to reach the touchpad, which can be difficult if your laptop is, you know, on your lap.
Post reply on HN