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ThinkPad’s 30th Anniversary: An Insider’s Perspective

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Re: ThinkPad’s 30th Anniversary: An Insider’s Perspective

#131

Post by smnplk »

spaniard89277 wrote: post #25
JamesAdir wrote: post #3

My Thinkpad X220 still going strong, and I miss a computer I can open up, replace or upgrade what's needed in an easy way. The form factor is good enough and I don't need or want this inch thin laptops just because one company decided it's suits them and fashionable. Unfortunately Lenovo doesn't really keep the brand and in the gazillion models they have on stock, there isn't one that can replace my X220 in convenien…

If the frame.work laptops get trackpoint Ill say goodbye to Lenovo. Until then I see no replacement. We'll see how long my x260 lasts.

Checkout Novena, where you can use Thinkpad keyboard.

https://www.crowdsupply.com/sutajio-kosagi/novena

I also once saw a german butique laptop maker, that makes this thicc laptops where every part is customizable and has oldschool thinkpad style keyboard. I just can't remember the barand name.

Re: ThinkPad’s 30th Anniversary: An Insider’s Perspective

#132

Post by mkoryak »

cylinder714 wrote: post #60
mkoryak wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The T42p is one of the best laptops ever made (in my opinion). I saved for months and bought one using a friend's IBM employee discount. I remember thinking that I wouldn't need to ever buy another laptop again. I still have it and it works fine. I wrote this on it. Edit: and there is another java update!!

What operating system are you running, if I may ask?

Windows 7 ultimate on 1500mb ram

Re: ThinkPad’s 30th Anniversary: An Insider’s Perspective

#133

Post by thorncorona »

FridayoLeary wrote: post #123
least wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I fail to see how this is a stupid trend. Most people want to have a camera on their person always and smartphones are that camera. They've completely killed off the point and shoot market and mostly the camcorder market as well. Seeing genuine improvement on what is a family's camera year over year is welcome.

It comes at the cost of the rest of the phone. The latest pro max whatever camera bump is huge . Especially as this comes after a decade of thinner phones being the ultimate goal of designers.

The camera is why I, and many others, buy a new iphone. So it makes sense I guess /shrug.

Re: ThinkPad’s 30th Anniversary: An Insider’s Perspective

#134

Post by rjh29 »

squarefoot wrote: post #61
scrlk wrote: post #24

Sadly they don't make them like they used to. Keyboards and repairability comes to mind. I don't mind the chiclet keycaps, but Lenovo really ruined the keyboard when they went from the 7 row layout [0] to the current 6 row layout [1]. Each new generation of ThinkPad reduces the travel distance of the keyboard - they've gone from 2.5 mm in the T420 (2011) to 1.5 mm in the T14 G3 (2022). 1 mm doesn't sound like on pape…

> I don't understand why Lenovo doesn't add an extra 1 mm to the thickness of their laptops, at least it would restore the reputation for typing feel on ThinkPads. Because, after years of advertising made by designers and not by technical people, for most potential buyers more thin = more modern so to remain in the game they have to adapt to the most idiotic trend today: make devices thin as credit cards no matter ho…

If the keyboard was so thin as to be unusable, people would stop ordering them. Yes the T14s has less travel but for me, it is just as nice to type on as the X220.

I can't speak for the X series though, those are made to go as thin as possible, at a cost to battery life, reliability and CPU power.

Re: ThinkPad’s 30th Anniversary: An Insider’s Perspective

#135

Post by rjh29 »

legitster wrote: post #99
scrlk wrote: post #24

Sadly they don't make them like they used to. Keyboards and repairability comes to mind. I don't mind the chiclet keycaps, but Lenovo really ruined the keyboard when they went from the 7 row layout [0] to the current 6 row layout [1]. Each new generation of ThinkPad reduces the travel distance of the keyboard - they've gone from 2.5 mm in the T420 (2011) to 1.5 mm in the T14 G3 (2022). 1 mm doesn't sound like on pape…

I'm currently typing this from my T450s. My perspective: I love the chiclets. They did a good job. The keys are perfectly shaped to reduce accidental presses. > I don't understand why Lenovo doesn't add an extra 1 mm to the thickness of their laptops Because they are already market leaders on key travel. Why aim for perfection when you are already ahead of everyone else. I agree that I don't like the direction they a…

What's USB0-C?

USB-C for power is a huge improvement over their proprietary connector. I can carry one USB-C charger and it works for all of my devices.

Re: ThinkPad’s 30th Anniversary: An Insider’s Perspective

#136

Post by rjh29 »

jagger27 wrote: post #75
scrlk wrote: post #24

Sadly they don't make them like they used to. Keyboards and repairability comes to mind. I don't mind the chiclet keycaps, but Lenovo really ruined the keyboard when they went from the 7 row layout [0] to the current 6 row layout [1]. Each new generation of ThinkPad reduces the travel distance of the keyboard - they've gone from 2.5 mm in the T420 (2011) to 1.5 mm in the T14 G3 (2022). 1 mm doesn't sound like on pape…

> they've gone from 2.5 mm in the T420 (2011) to 1.5 mm in the T14 G3 (2022). 1 mm doesn't sound like on paper, but you immediately notice the difference if you switch between them Absolutely correct. For context, typical Cherry MX mechanical keyboard switches have a total travel around 4mm. We’re very sensitive to switch height.

Mechanical keyboard types presumably can't use any laptop keyboard without feeling ill and needing to lie down for a while. The Thinkpad keyboard provides a great typing experience for 99% of people.

Re: ThinkPad’s 30th Anniversary: An Insider’s Perspective

#137

Post by rjh29 »

de_keyboard wrote: post #48
Beta-7 wrote: post #16

It's interesting how the ThinkPads used to be the tech person's™ laptop of choice because of their repairability and extendability, but nowadays most tech people (at least in the professional setting) are using Apple's MacBooks which are the opposite when it comes to repairability and extendability.

I made this switch personally. The newer "compact" models from Lenovo do not work as well with Linux as the classic ones. If you want a compact, reliable unix-like laptop then Apple is really the best (for now).

You're downvoted, but not entirely wrong. My T14s had issues with suspend and the TrackPoint moving by itself, both took about 6 months to fix. Linux support is generally great, but I wouldn't recommend buying brand new releases of hardware until the kernel/userland has had a chance to catch up to it.

Re: ThinkPad’s 30th Anniversary: An Insider’s Perspective

#138

Post by rjh29 »

mhb wrote: post #77
JamesAdir wrote: post #3

My Thinkpad X220 still going strong, and I miss a computer I can open up, replace or upgrade what's needed in an easy way. The form factor is good enough and I don't need or want this inch thin laptops just because one company decided it's suits them and fashionable. Unfortunately Lenovo doesn't really keep the brand and in the gazillion models they have on stock, there isn't one that can replace my X220 in convenien…

I got an X1 about a year ago because I thought it would be a satisfactory replacement for an X220. The screen, sound and battery life are definitely big improvements, but the Trackpoint never worked well and the ridiculously thin keyboard was a real disappointment. When a few keys stopped working (after ~ 1 year), I improvised with a wireless Mac keyboard. It would be nice to get the keyboard working but it looks lik…

I bought an X1 Carbon and it also broke (within 2 years). I really like the Trackpoint though so I bought a T14s. It does not have replaceable parts, but it is a lot thicker, and therefore more powerful (for the price), more reliable and has a better keyboard than the X series.

The modern day equivalent to the X220 is the T-series, not the X-series.

Re: ThinkPad’s 30th Anniversary: An Insider’s Perspective

#139

Post by _emacsomancer_ »

wildzzz wrote: post #124
jtwaleson wrote: post #8

I’ve been a bit of a Thinkpad fanatic ever since my dad got a T42p somewhere in 2004. I have been on Thinkpads since 2006. I bought old ones on eBay and now have a collection of about 15 machines. The 700c, two butterfly keyboard 701cs, the 240 and a lot more. I’m currently on a T495s. From my experience I can say that the “old IBM machines were reliable and well constructed” is not true. They were bulky and over tim…

I used the thinklight a lot in college when I'd want to do homework in bed with the lights down low. You could both read papers and see your keyboard easily. The backlit keyboard really killed off the thinklight as I'm sure that was the primary purpose of it. I had an X61 tablet, X200 tablet, and a beefy T420 I used in college. They all got beat up in my backpack, anything plastic around the edges was cracked but the…

Screen replacement isn't very difficult for that model even as an amateur tinkerer. Finding the right screen is the most difficult bit. (Briefly, in the *30 era, one could have both ThinkLight and backlit keyboard.)

Re: ThinkPad’s 30th Anniversary: An Insider’s Perspective

#140

Post by dehrmann »

cannam wrote: post #126
jtwaleson wrote: post #8

I’ve been a bit of a Thinkpad fanatic ever since my dad got a T42p somewhere in 2004. I have been on Thinkpads since 2006. I bought old ones on eBay and now have a collection of about 15 machines. The 700c, two butterfly keyboard 701cs, the 240 and a lot more. I’m currently on a T495s. From my experience I can say that the “old IBM machines were reliable and well constructed” is not true. They were bulky and over tim…

> From my experience I can say that the “old IBM machines were reliable and well constructed” is not true. They were bulky and over time, everything breaks. Too right. I know the T40 series Thinkpads quite well (the 2004-5 era) and they're not very robust at all. Pick one up from the front edge and it'll just bend - the edges of the palm rest crack first, then the traces lift from the motherboard and the USB ports st…

I can't remember if it was a T40 or T60 series, but I regularly picked it up from the edge, and this popped some solder joints loose on a BGA-monuted GPU. The board sort of still worked, but the problem kept getting worse, and I had to replace the board.
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