I stopped buying new laptops (2020) • Hacker News Board

Re: I stopped buying new laptops (2020)

#91

Post by wyldfire » Sat, Jul 08, 2023, 6:53 PM UTC

zokier wrote: post #54

wyldfire wrote: post #14

I often buy a ~one generation old phone for this same reason. It's just so much better value to buy someone else's phone. The folks who keep buying the newest generation tech often seem to take really good care of their gear - perhaps because they plan to resell it later. I haven't done this as much with laptops because I do tend to keep those for such a long time that I can reasonably amortize a bigger investment ov…

But the biggest reason (for me) to replace phone is to get security updates; buying used is counter-productive to that end

Just replace it with another one generation old used phone when it stops getting updates. Still better value.

Re: I stopped buying new laptops (2020)

#92

Post by mattlondon » Sat, Jul 08, 2023, 6:54 PM UTC

I recently did the same - needed a laptop, but balked at the costs for an "occasional use" device. Even a non-shite Chromebook (so decent ram and non-awful CPU) was £500+.

I got a used ThinkPad X1 from 2017 for £200 from ebay and it has been superb so far. It is modern enough for me - USB-c charging, Wifi-5, win11, 3ghz quad-core i5 etc.

I feel like it is very much luck of the draw for what the condition is like when you buy used, but for the ThinkPad X1 I got it appears to have held up very well.

Highly recommended. Will do the same again when I need another.

Re: I stopped buying new laptops (2020)

#93

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Jul 08, 2023, 6:54 PM UTC

redroyal wrote: post #37

“Laptops don’t change” Really? because a few years ago battery life was maybe 7 hours and now it’s 18. And with faster processors, thunderbolt 4 and USB C charging, wifi 6, better screens and lighter. I keep hearing this argument for not buying a new laptop every year and it just doesn’t hold water. I say buy the latest MacBook, expense it, factor it in as a monthly cost. These are expendable and essential tools. The…

[deleted]

Re: I stopped buying new laptops (2020)

#94

Post by lwdf » Sat, Jul 08, 2023, 6:54 PM UTC

cempaka wrote: post #23

I'm still getting great mileage out of a T430 I bought in 2017, and I'm not particularly nice to my laptops. The one frustration I've had recently is that it can't drive my nice 38-inch monitor at its full resolution, so I've started eyeing a T470.

Go for the T480, it has 4 cores and 8 threads compared to the T470 2 cores 4 threads. Big jump if you do anything like compiling.

Re: I stopped buying new laptops (2020)

#95

Post by footlose_3815 » Sat, Jul 08, 2023, 6:55 PM UTC

redroyal wrote: post #37

“Laptops don’t change” Really? because a few years ago battery life was maybe 7 hours and now it’s 18. And with faster processors, thunderbolt 4 and USB C charging, wifi 6, better screens and lighter. I keep hearing this argument for not buying a new laptop every year and it just doesn’t hold water. I say buy the latest MacBook, expense it, factor it in as a monthly cost. These are expendable and essential tools. The…

That sounds like batteries change

Re: I stopped buying new laptops (2020)

#96

Post by lwkl » Sat, Jul 08, 2023, 6:55 PM UTC

marcel_hecko wrote: post #68

redroyal wrote: post #37

“Laptops don’t change” Really? because a few years ago battery life was maybe 7 hours and now it’s 18. And with faster processors, thunderbolt 4 and USB C charging, wifi 6, better screens and lighter. I keep hearing this argument for not buying a new laptop every year and it just doesn’t hold water. I say buy the latest MacBook, expense it, factor it in as a monthly cost. These are expendable and essential tools. The…

"ThinkPad® X260 will go as long as you do with over 21 hours of continuous battery life". Thats a quote from Lenovo website from 2018. I can confirm this was in practice the case with extended battery pack.

Doing what kind of work? And with what kind of screen brightness?

I like Lenovo laptops but I never got that kind of battery life on them I got maybe half or sometimes only a third of what they advertised.

Re: I stopped buying new laptops (2020)

#97

Post by elliotec » Sat, Jul 08, 2023, 6:55 PM UTC

ImPleadThe5th wrote: post #64

redroyal wrote: post #37

“Laptops don’t change” Really? because a few years ago battery life was maybe 7 hours and now it’s 18. And with faster processors, thunderbolt 4 and USB C charging, wifi 6, better screens and lighter. I keep hearing this argument for not buying a new laptop every year and it just doesn’t hold water. I say buy the latest MacBook, expense it, factor it in as a monthly cost. These are expendable and essential tools. The…

Do you actually buy a new laptop every year? I feel that's a bit delusional. Year to year most upgrades are pretty minor. An argument can be made maybe every 3 years if you're doing some incredibly resource intense stuff.

Yikes. Don’t be like that.

Re: I stopped buying new laptops (2020)

#98

Post by benj111 » Sat, Jul 08, 2023, 6:55 PM UTC

redroyal wrote: post #37

“Laptops don’t change” Really? because a few years ago battery life was maybe 7 hours and now it’s 18. And with faster processors, thunderbolt 4 and USB C charging, wifi 6, better screens and lighter. I keep hearing this argument for not buying a new laptop every year and it just doesn’t hold water. I say buy the latest MacBook, expense it, factor it in as a monthly cost. These are expendable and essential tools. The…

So you buy a new laptop every year?

What do you do with your old one? Throw it away? Or sell it? If you're selling it who do you think is buying it?

You do realise most people don't need the fastest processor, an 18 hour battery life, thunderbolt 4 or WiFi 6

And better screens and lighter weight are relative. If I upgrade my 10 year old laptop to a 5 year old laptop I'm still realising those gains. Next year a better screen will be out. Presumably we can agree that today's best screen is adequate, despite the knowledge that in the future it won't be the best screen, so if it's adequate today, why would it cease to be adequate in 1/3/5 years?

Re: I stopped buying new laptops (2020)

#99

Post by soulbadguy » Sat, Jul 08, 2023, 6:56 PM UTC

jrib wrote: post #73

soulbadguy wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it also (inflation / time adjusted) the most expensive ?

Base m1 macbook air sells for 800 bucks routinely. It's a great value in my opinion. I agree it's the best machine I have ever owned.

Doesn't answer my question. I wasn't trying to imply that M1 are a bad value...

Re: I stopped buying new laptops (2020)

#100

Post by InvaderFizz » Sat, Jul 08, 2023, 6:56 PM UTC

simfree wrote: post #55

pessimizer wrote: post #32

I'd like to defend the T430 from a T430. Yes, it was a bad purchase when I made it (and when the author made it), but you can buy them for $100 a piece now on Ebay. Keyboards you can probably buy 20 for $50. Since they are from the dawn of Thinkpad's bullshit, they hardcoded the hardware choices you could make for upgrades into the firmware. Awful. But 1vyrain ( https://1vyra.in/ ) came along and fixed all that. A T4…

The 35 watt processor in the T430 is just way too easy to get toasty. The T440 or above with a 1080p screen upgrade and trackpad replacement is so much nicer to use since it cooks your legs less, has a nicer screen, is lighter, thinner and still able to take hard falls without issue.

I really enjoyed my T460s from a job back in 2017. My main complaint was the rather anemic 2c/4t CPU.

I have a LG Gram 15 that is pretty decent, but very wobbly/flexy. It's saving grace is the lightweight of it.

My 16" MBP M1 Max is phenomenal, but very heavy, and I move it 5-10x daily.

I plan on replacing it with the ~2025 MBA 15". My wife's 13" M1 MBA is great, but the 13" is not nearly as comfortable for a single display as the 16".