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I stopped buying new laptops (2020)

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Re: I stopped buying new laptops (2020)

#321

Post by mk_stjames »

soulbadguy wrote: post #38
ralfd wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My M1 Mac is the best laptop I ever owned. But it is also a big step up, I expect my machine to stay viable quite some time and recommend my noob friends to buy used M1/M2 Macbooks (if available).

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

I hadn't thought of this too much but I bought an M1 14" Macbook Pro, mid-spec, for around $2300 I think back in 2021 right after it launched.

My previous laptop that I had used for 8+ years was a 2013 Macbook Pro 15" with the i7, and I bought it as a factory refurb 6 months after launch for- get this- I think it was $2400. New it would have been $2600 I think, in 2013-dollars.

So, especially adjusted for inflation, a similar level of machine is actually about 30%-35% more affordable now than it was a decade ago and computationally it's anywhere from 4x to 10x faster and something like 2x as energy efficient.

All that combined makes my M1 Macbook Pro one of the best values in computing I've ever purchased, IMO. And considering my 2013 MBP lasted more than 2x as long as any previous laptop I had ever owned, even though at the time it was about 50% more expensive than any previous laptop I owned, it paid for that run- and so if I get the same use time out of this current M1, the value over the lifespan of the machine will trounce any previous computer I've owned.

Re: I stopped buying new laptops (2020)

#322

Post by smohare »

shortrounddev2 wrote: post #233
rpcope1 wrote: post #12

> Most of the 160-200 million laptops sold each year are replacement purchases. The average laptop is replaced every 3 years (in business) to five years (elsewhere). 3 My 5.7 years per laptop experience is not exceptional. This is one of the many aspects I don't like about how laptops are designed today. Even with OEM desktops like my Dell Precision T1700, it's still serviceable and fixable today without a whole lot…

My T420 is still running strong 12 years later. I don't use it for much since I'm not on Linux anymore, but I occasionally open it up and play with it. I'm using a Dell Inspiron now and I'm hoping it lasts a while.

[dead]

Re: I stopped buying new laptops (2020)

#323

Post by patchtopic »

I work for a non profit org.

We sometimes purchase reconditioned laptops as they are good value for some use cases.

We have a lot of WfH users so need to courier laptops to some staff.

We recently had an insurance claim denied for a damaged reconditioned laptop as TNT/Fedex used a "no second hand goods" clause in their insurance to wriggle out paying up.

This has not stopped me purchasing reconditioned laptops, but something to be aware of and taken into account.

In fact just buying another reconditioned laptop was not a large expense and damaged laptops in transit are relatively rare.

Re: I stopped buying new laptops (2020)

#324

Post by jacknews »

simonblack wrote: post #291

I really like the idea of using an SD card for the home directory, because that's the thing that changes constantly, and it's a pain trying to synchronise the home directory over several machines. With one instance, that's backed up regularly, it makes life fairly simple. Now I just have to work out the mechanics of implementing it smoothly. I have an archive disk/directory that holds all the 'write once, keep foreve…

A portable home dir works if you have the same os and software on all the laptops.

When I bought a macbook the first time (ostensibly to develop for iphone), I hated the UI, so ran linux in a virtualbox as my main os.

I think that would work really well from an external drive - but an sdcard is way too slow, it should be on a usb c nvme.

Re: I stopped buying new laptops (2020)

#325

Post by smohare »

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…

[dead]

Re: I stopped buying new laptops (2020)

#326

Post by nukeman »

scq wrote: post #309
prmph wrote: post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I swore off those Chinese manufacturers (Lenovo, Asus, Acer, etc) many years ago for similar reasons and haven't looked back. I just don't buy any products from them, laptops included. Surprised people are still having to learn the hard way that their products are crap.

Asus and Acer are Taiwanese, not Chinese, and none of them actually manufacture their own laptops in house, that is outsourced to manufacturing partners. Nearly all laptops on the market, regardless of brand, are manufactured by 6 Taiwanese companies: Quanta, Compal, Wistron, Inventec, Pegatron, and Foxconn. And yes, that includes Framework, who use Compal as their manufacturing partner.

Is there any way to link up which designer works with which contract manufacturer (or at least the models)? And are there any exceptions? I seem to recall Alienware stuff was made in Florida at some point.

Re: I stopped buying new laptops (2020)

#327

Post by wildzzz »

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…

I have a T420 gathering dust in a drawer. It was my everyday laptop in college for a couple years but then I switched to buying used Thinkpad tablet PCs for taking notes. I eventually went back to it last year and upgraded a few parts but regretted how hot the thing got with such poor battery life. It was fine running in a docking station but wasn't great on the move which is annoying if I want to use it in bed or on the couch. I remembered how much I disliked the thing so I bought a used X280 and am overjoyed with the purchase.

Re: I stopped buying new laptops (2020)

#328

Post by turdprincess »

eBombzor wrote: post #306

> Laptops don’t change > New laptops may be more energy-efficient per computational power, but these gains are offset by more computational power Guess this was written before the M1 :) I also felt the Zen 2 Laptop chips marked a huge step forward on the Win/Linux side at that time: generationally more power efficient than the best laptop chips from Intel, same core/thread count as the desktop equivalents, and cheap…

Anecdotal, but my M1 MacBook Pro doesn’t have amazing battery life. The other day I went to a coffee shop with 60% charge and only made it about 2.5 hours doing iOS development.

Re: I stopped buying new laptops (2020)

#329

Post by dangus »

DeathArrow wrote: post #227

I can use old laptops because I can't run what I need, but at least I won't buying new cars as old cars seem to have a better bang for the buck. I like my actual car because is quite reliable and if something breaks, it's easy to fix. Also, being Diesel it's also cheap to run. My next car will also be an old Diesel. Probably I should buy more cars at some point because they'll forbid new cars with internal combustion…

Ugh, diesels need to go, they’re an air quality nightmare.

I agree with you that new cars are a bad value, they’re a rapidly depreciating asset, but that has little to do with the drivetrain.

The truth is that if you give any shit about the environment or people breathing the air around you, EVs or at least a gasoline hybrid are the verified lesser evil. They’re just so much more efficient on energy consumption during operation that it easily negates their production impact.

But the best thing to do is reduce car trips and car dependency entirely, because cars themselves are not sustainable and waste all our hard-earned money on inefficient infrastructure.

Re: I stopped buying new laptops (2020)

#330

Post by jaredhallen »

NikolaNovak wrote: post #245
shortrounddev2 wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My T420 is still running strong 12 years later. I don't use it for much since I'm not on Linux anymore, but I occasionally open it up and play with it. I'm using a Dell Inspiron now and I'm hoping it lasts a while.

Yup. I have two working t420s (t420s is thinner than t420 and I think puts it in the realm of "acceptable" in modern standards. T420 I find is mostly a stationary laptop). They run upgraded ssd drives and ram. I also recently stocked up on 3 used t480 as it's the last generation with easily removable battery as well as drive and memory. Those should last me a while! My primary daily driver is the 6 year old t25 - bas…

Most of the newer business class laptops I've seen just have a few screws to pull the back panel and replace the battery. It takes about 5-10 minutes.
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