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The laptop that won't die

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Re: The laptop that won't die

#41

Post by GolfPopper »

NikolaNovak wrote: post #33
GolfPopper wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm posting from my X220 (circa 2013). It's a laptop of Theseus at this point, but bits of the original still survive. (The keyboard is the single most-replaced component, and I'm on my third motherboard.) I can't stand more modern laptops - I've yet to find a newer laptop keyboard that's comfortable to type on. Performance-wise, it's perfectly adequate to run Linux Mint or Windows 10. And I get a kick out of having…

>>I've yet to find a newer laptop keyboard that's comfortable to type on. FWIW, the anniversary t25 has the good keyboard. It was expensive though not outrageous, so after talking it through with my wife, I bought it when it came out. It's still my primary driver, I use it 8++hrs a day for 6 years running(with no sign of stopping), so it mostly worked out. It's essentially a t470 so easy to maintain (external battery…

Thank you! That's very good to know.

Re: The laptop that won't die

#42

Post by kjkjadksj »

adamking wrote: post #36
shanghaikid wrote: post #32

macbook air m1 16gb 512, fast, quiet, long battery life. I don't think I will replace it in 10 years.

and no moving internal parts + mostly sealed from dust. I'll do the same with mine.

Fwiw my 2012 mbp still runs. Takes in plenty of dust working outside and on account of the plastic hinge turning brittle and falling apart years ago. Once every two years I will open her up and blow her clean again. Thats about all the maintenance she needs today. Ironically it has somewhat stronger specs than gps new m1 air, considering I also have 16gb memory, but then 1.5tb of storage and 2 operating systems.

Re: The laptop that won't die

#43

Post by stratosmacker »

noufalibrahim wrote: post #14

I can relate to this. I needed a laptop quickly and found a factory display piece on eBay. It was an x230. It must have been atleast a year old. I bought it. That was in 2013 or so. I'm still using it. Upgraded the Ram once. The current problems are a slow fan and a poor battery. I haven't fixed them yet but can probably do so. The thing still works. It's running an old Debian and is my primary machine.

Reading this on an X230! Check out a Kingsener battery (8400mAh) I get about 8 hours of mild use. [link](https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2251832160992805.html)

Re: The laptop that won't die

#44

Post by stratosmacker »

aplummer wrote: post #4

I feel like this story is also relevant to the 2012 MacBook Pro and Air. My partner kept her air going for more than 10 years, and I saw people who for whatever reason (maybe keyboard or Touch Bar) hold on to those pros long past normal. So consider that another anecdote. Real data would be great here.

I came here to add this, as a x230 user, the other laptop that has Mercedes diesel like longevity is the 2012 Macbook Pro. I've kept numerous alive for friends.

Re: The laptop that won't die

#45

Post by kjkjadksj »

aplummer wrote: post #4

I feel like this story is also relevant to the 2012 MacBook Pro and Air. My partner kept her air going for more than 10 years, and I saw people who for whatever reason (maybe keyboard or Touch Bar) hold on to those pros long past normal. So consider that another anecdote. Real data would be great here.

2012 macbook pro checking in. 16gb of ram and two drive bays (swapping out the optical drive) and its perfectly fine for what I throw at it.

Re: The laptop that won't die

#46

Post by chefandy »

My primary machine was a 2011 MBP until maybe 2018 and it was pretty sweet, but I'm pretty hard on my machines, and there was also a hardware issue that Apple wasn't able to fix. The Thinkpad I had working for IBM a-decade-and-a-half-ago was an absolute beast. I wish I could still get my work done on one of those old reliable machines, but having transitioned to heavy 3D Graphics stuff and working with game engines precludes this kind of thing. The increase in display capability alone has been a huge game changer for this work, let alone the kind of video cards you can get in these machines. The top-of-the-line 2022 Razer machine I use now will be essentially obsolete even for lightweight professional work within two years.

Re: The laptop that won't die

#47

Post by kjkjadksj »

jeffbee wrote: post #35

Plastic makes such a difference. I can, and do, keep using Thinkpads that have been dropped, even when they get cracked. Because who cares? But a bent MacBook Pro is often ruined.

Depends on the mac. None of the corners on my 2012 are undented at this point. Even the lid with the screen. This thing has been down cement stairs. When you open it up you can see theres actually somewhat of a crumple zone. Not sure if the newer models are so bullet proof. One of my friends ran over his 2012 with an f150 and it still worked minus spiderwebbing on the screen.

Re: The laptop that won't die

#48

Post by ics »

aplummer wrote: post #4

I feel like this story is also relevant to the 2012 MacBook Pro and Air. My partner kept her air going for more than 10 years, and I saw people who for whatever reason (maybe keyboard or Touch Bar) hold on to those pros long past normal. So consider that another anecdote. Real data would be great here.

Agreed, I have two MacBook Pros from 2010 and 2011 which have been chugging along great since then; daily drivers up until 2020, then stuck on a shelf without any power conditioning for two years. Dusted them both off and put back in service. They're easy to clean, look basically brand new, and work just fine now as home servers after purchasing a USB-C to Magsafe adapter so I could recycle those old bricks. Now those I definitely went through a few of over the years.

Re: The laptop that won't die

#49

Post by kjkjadksj »

city41 wrote: post #40
iwanttocomment wrote: post #34

This is bizarre. There's a hilarious contrast between the stated requirements for their laptop: >a) could run Logic Pro (the finest music-editing software available to humanity), b) had a high-resolution screen for my lousy eyesight, and c) had a 1-terabyte hard drive. And so then the article extols the virtues of buying a laptop that can't run Logic Pro, has a "fuzzily low-rez, which isn’t great for me, given my lou…

Apple computers have a time limit if you want to keep using MacOS. My 2012 MacBook Retina still works great ... if I put Linux on it. Logic Pro is a great example. It requires MacOS 12 or greater. MacOS 12 will only run on 2015 or newer MacBooks.

You can just run older logic thats compatible with like catalina or mojave. Thats what I do for adobe suite and its fine for my use cases. There are also third party patches to install more current os on older hardware.

Re: The laptop that won't die

#50

Post by dws »

Keyboards are a matter of taste. To my fingers, the T420 is the last of the T series with a really good one. Older Thinkpads are easy to repair. I've replaced the keyboard once, and after near daily evening use for many years, I'm about to attempt to replace a failing fan. I'll miss this laptop when its time comes. It's run various releases of Ubuntu like a champ.
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