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Replacing my MacBook Air M1 with a ThinkPad T480

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581–590 of 634 posts

Re: Replacing my MacBook Air M1 with a ThinkPad T480

#581
post #446

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With a MBP, you'd just restore from a Time Machine backup. If you don't have one, that would be on you.

That's some Apple-sanctioned gaslighting right there.

How is that gaslighting? I've done this multiple times when returning a lease to Apple and setting up a new machine. I was up and running in less than an hour.

Re: Replacing my MacBook Air M1 with a ThinkPad T480

#582

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With a MBP, you'd just restore from a Time Machine backup. If you don't have one, that would be on you.

Restoring from a backup is of course something I would have resorted to if it would have been necessary, but the point I tried to make was that it was not necessary because there was a much quicker way to get back up to speed. Also not sure if the time machine backup would reinstall all the apps and settings exactly as they were before, but maybe it would, I honestly don't know the Apple ecosystem well enough for tha…

It's definitely user error. We have a lease program through Apple and we get new machines every few months. Getting back up and running is simple and every new Mac computer asks if you want to transfer from an existing machine or a Time Machine backup. Transferring from machine to machine is a 1-cable or WiFi affair that takes less than an hour for most of our machines and any hardware issue is done from a Time Machine backup that takes a few hours at most. I don't see the advantage to being able to swap an SSD from one machine to the next since only the most technical users would even attempt that.

Re: Replacing my MacBook Air M1 with a ThinkPad T480

#583
I have a t480s i7 24gb ram 2tb ssd, bought it used about 3 years ago, added all the components for i think <300, used it for work for about a year. Used it for everything from compiling big projects, to image and video editing, usually with 10s of tabs of firefox open, even played a few light indie games on it. Maybe it's just the Arch Linux factor but I've always considered it a reasonably capable laptop especially when compared to macs of the same age that are dead and useless by now, or comparably priced new laptops like the chromebooks.

Re: Replacing my MacBook Air M1 with a ThinkPad T480

#584
post #509

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Once every 3 years isn't going to break the bank vs. like $50 for an X220 battery. My Apple laptops haven't gotten frustratingly-low battery life—but, hell, still better than any PC laptop I've ever owned at purchase, even when "degraded"—until ~5 years, historically. Including the Intel ones. IDK what Apple does with their batteries (extra, "stealth" capacity? Just way, way higher-quality batteries than any other…

The Apple Silicon models will probably also benefit from being the first(?) ones to run their entire life with Apple's new optimized charging behavior. E.g. my laptop spends most of its life plugged in running a display, and so it has its battery charging kept on hold and is occasionally charged up to ~80%. I can only assume this'll help the battery life in the long term...

This is not an Apple-specific feature, though. Windows 11 has a similar mode on Thinkpads, although I don't recall if it's something Lenovo-specific or it works everywhere.

Re: Replacing my MacBook Air M1 with a ThinkPad T480

#585
What not to like about T480, the 'Last Mohicans' of the ThinkPad laptop generation with replaceable components i.e. battery, RAM, etc. The most glaring weakness probably the screen come by the default 1080p but that can be upgraded as well.

I recently bought a used one around USD$250 and with further USD$200 it will be 64GB portable workstation beast. When working at the office simply connect it to to the docking station and you have access to all the wonderful display of 2K and 4K monitors.

Re: Replacing my MacBook Air M1 with a ThinkPad T480

#586

Regarding Lenovo: I bought an original Macbook Air. It always worked well. As it got on to about 10 years old, I took it in to an Apple Store a couple miles from my house and asked if they could replace the battery. The battery worked pretty well, but I figured.. the machine was going strong and if they still had batteries in stock, I should grab one now and the laptop will live even longer. They replaced the battery…

> Dell (they couldn't repair 2 brand new machines that were shipped to us with broken WiFi and took so long to declare it unrepairable Didn't they use socketed WiFi cards? On every non hair thin laptop I could crack open, I always found the WiFi card to be mounted on a MiniPCI or newer socket, so unless that problem was due to the mainboard, it was just a matter of replacing the WiFi card and install the relevant dri…

Do they make laptops with internal USB ports? I've never heard of one, but that doesn't mean much.

I've seen the feature on servers for the same reason they can come with (dual) internal SD cards, but I can't imagine a manufacturer putting in a full-size USB-A port in an ultrathin laptop. I'd really like to see an example if I'm wrong however.

Re: Replacing my MacBook Air M1 with a ThinkPad T480

#587
post #372
post #352

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my experience, Lenovo is basically two different companies for their Thinkpad and non-Thinkpad machines. If you have a Thinkpad and have a warranty issue, they'll overnight you a shipping box with an overnight label. I had an issue with mine that needed a motherboard replacement and I was only without my laptop for 3 days. Meanwhile, I had a similar issue with a non-Thinkpad laptop and they emailed me a UPS ground…

In Europe, even ThinkPad support is atrocious. It's done through some third-party resellers. Pricing is also pretty atrocious compared to the US, which is sad as there are not that many alternative laptop brands with good Linux support.

In US, ThinkPads have been especially popular in the corporate world, with some companies practically standardizing on them as business laptops; e.g. Microsoft used to be like 90% Thinkpads early-to-mid 2010s. I suspect that much of the support infrastructure benefits that we get are derived from it being that pervasive. Are they generally less common in Europe?

Re: Replacing my MacBook Air M1 with a ThinkPad T480

#588

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Restoring from a backup is of course something I would have resorted to if it would have been necessary, but the point I tried to make was that it was not necessary because there was a much quicker way to get back up to speed. Also not sure if the time machine backup would reinstall all the apps and settings exactly as they were before, but maybe it would, I honestly don't know the Apple ecosystem well enough for tha…

It's definitely user error. We have a lease program through Apple and we get new machines every few months. Getting back up and running is simple and every new Mac computer asks if you want to transfer from an existing machine or a Time Machine backup. Transferring from machine to machine is a 1-cable or WiFi affair that takes less than an hour for most of our machines and any hardware issue is done from a Time Machi…

Is it appropriate to blame non-"technical users" for "user error" in such a case?

Re: Replacing my MacBook Air M1 with a ThinkPad T480

#590
post #314

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But as it’s bad for the environment it’s even more important in 2023 to keep complaining about it.

His 4th point in the conclusion at the end: > I wanted a cheap travel laptop I could replace without blinking an eye at the price. It's pretty easy to get ~10 years out of a good laptop from Apple. I'll be shocked if this guy is still using his Thinkpad in 10 years, and even if he does, that he didn't create more e-waste by swapping parts that he wouldn't have had to sticking with the MacBook.

Hello there. I'm writing this on a Thinkpad x220 from 2011.
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