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The laptop that won't die

clivethompson.medium.com

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Re: The laptop that won't die

#141

Post by LeonM »

Reading this using a 2010 MBP, the first generation of retina ones without optical disk drive. I no longer use it for work for continuity reasons, but I could, it runs all my applications without breaking a sweat (back then this was the maxed out i7 option with 16GB ram)

- Display was replaced under warranty after 2 years due to ghosting

- Upgraded the 256GB SSD to a 1TB model after ~5 years

- Had the battery replaced by Apple store after ~7 years

- Mainboard was damaged by Apple store (USB no longer worked after battery replacement), after a lot of back-and-forth they replaced it under warranty

So I'll admit, not much of the laptop is still original, but the fact that I can still daily it for my development workflow is impressive. This thing just won't die.

For work I replaced the MBP with a Lenovo X1 Extreme, partially due to the praise of Lenovo here on HN. The total investment of the Lenovo was higher than the MBP, but I was planning on doing another 10 years with the Lenovo. Though the build quality is OK-ish, but I have never been satisfied with the it. Linux support (the main reason I bought Lenovo) is rather bad, the laptop gets very hot, fan noise and coil whine make it annoying to use. The battery completely died after just 2 years, and Lenovo could not supply a replacement (they actually recommended searching on Amazon for a aftermarket replacement!). SSD died after 3 years, luckily they are replaceable. One fan died after 4 years, had to source a used one from ebay since Lenovo no longer offers replacement fans. Had to replace the thermal compound on the heatsinks twice due to the laptop starting to overheat and shut down.

I know, I know, sample size of one and YMMV, but I don't think I'll buy another Lenovo laptop after this one.

Re: The laptop that won't die

#142

Post by MandieD »

q-base wrote: post #126
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.

All these replies makes me want to buy yet another battery for my old 2014 MBP. But the last two gave up very quickly - so any ideas as to where I can get proper batteries for the old MacBooks?

iFixit

Re: The laptop that won't die

#145

Post by tonyedgecombe »

eigenvalue wrote: post #71

I can’t even bear to look at a low DPI screen for more than a few minutes. Anything under 150dpi just looks so awful to me at this point. Basically ruins all older laptops from my perspective.

Yes. In some ways I wish I had never seen a Retina display. There is no going back now.

Re: The laptop that won't die

#146

Post by Unfrozen0688 »

thrtythreeforty wrote: post #5
zitterbewegung wrote: post #3

Anecdotal evidence is obvious but Lenovo has at least tried to keep up their quality (don’t buy anything other than the thinkpad line) but Mac durability in the long term may can have issues. I remember that I had to get a repair of two Mac’s I have owned (but one time Apple upgraded me to the newer version so that’s why I am loyal.)

I'll second this: Non-Thinkpad Lenovo laptops are poorly designed trash heaps. Thinkpads have largely retained the build quality that everyone brags on. My tl;dr advice for buying a computer on a budget is, get a T480s off of eBay. They are corporate cast-offs and there are so. many. of them. The R2v3 rating system has become popular. Get one rated C5 or better (cosmetic: minor usage marks only) and F4 or better (fun…

Yep, with companies doing laptop replacements on a 3 year basis or 5 year basis depending, there are so many on ebay.

And looking at my own work provided ThinkPad, I keep it closed and docked 99% of the time, so the keyboard looks brand new despite being a 4-year-old laptop now.

But that just depends on the user/site it goes to.

Re: The laptop that won't die

#147

Post by bch »

genter wrote: post #52
NikolaNovak wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that advice depends on whether you're looking for "a laptop" or "a project" :) I'm a massive thinkpad fan, as per sibling comments I have half a dozen in the room with me right now, but have never and don't plan to ever replace a screen. My time and hassle are worth more than $0-$30 I'd pay for one that already comes with higher res, and the risk / pain / fidgetiness is outside of my own personal threshold. N…

lol what? I can replace the screen in under 15 minutes.

Is that 15 minutes for a first-timer, including time spent sourcing the upgraded display?

Re: The laptop that won't die

#148

Post by mkesper »

imrehg wrote: post #135

I have a back-in-the-day (2011) maxed out Thinkpad X201, that was somewhere around $1.5k (whooping max 8GB RAM, etc... :) In the intervening 12 years: - I've replaced the disk at least 2x (going to SSD, and replacing a failed one with a current 1TB this year) - Replaced the cooling fan (1x? 2x? I don't remember) - Replaced the motherboard (that was fun: https://gergely.imreh.net/blog/2022/07/an-open-heart-motherb...…

Coreboot should help with newer wifi cards. It seems you need an external flasher for this model, though: https://libreboot.org/docs/install/x200_external.html https://www.coreboot.org/Board:lenovo/x200

Re: The laptop that won't die

#149

Post by aa-jv »

I too have a Thinkpad of this variety, living long and rocking onwards, but I also have a 2015 Macbook Pro running Ubuntu Studio that gives the Lenovo a run for its money. In this configuration, the Macbook Pro is my favourite since its a much more physically comfortable machine to work on.

Point is, both of these machines are excellent, well-supported and Simply Work™ Great ..

Re: The laptop that won't die

#150

Post by ribit »

And we have a bunch of 15 year old Macs in the basement that outlasted any PCs we ever owned. What’s the point of these personal anecdotes?

Lenovos build quality went down the drain in the last 10 years and their service is awful.

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