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How and Why I Stopped Buying New Laptops (2020)

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Re: How and Why I Stopped Buying New Laptops (2020)

#131

Post by mbreese »

jessekv wrote: post #121
idiotsecant wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How are you people breaking so many keys?!

Maybe they learned to type on a mechanical typewriter...

For me, you’re not far off… it was an electric typewriter. So, the force I applied wasn’t directly linked to the force of hitting the paper, but it was … ahem … robust. Between that, the IBM Model M clone we had on the PC, or the membrane keyboard in our Atari 400, my early muscle memory might be skewed.

Now though, we’re talking mainly laptop keyboards. My desk keyboard is a low profile keyboard with pretty thin keys (Keytron K2). If you hit them at the right angle, there’s not much plastic there to absorb the shock.

Re: How and Why I Stopped Buying New Laptops (2020)

#132

Post by sangnoir »

LittleTimothy wrote: post #129
sangnoir wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Also, given that this is the author's work laptop, what's the economic justification for not investing in the primary tool you use for work? Shouldn't the burden of proof be on the obverse - Why should one buy a new laptop when an old one will do? Your framing sounds to me like a post-hoc justification for consumerism. Why not "invest" in getting the absolute best in the primary means of transportation, or couch, T…

Come on now, even the author is pretty clear they're making compromises. Whether that's slower internet speed, lower quality display, worse battery or inability to run modern apps/web apps. There are a lot of ways in which this is making a trade off to priortize cost vs productivity. Sure, you can say all the ways in which the old laptop is inferior are unimportant, but I would atleast like to see some serious consid…

I have my doubts you'd take any such arguments seriously, if you are set on the idea that productivity universally requires a 14-hour battery and a 2.5k screen.

I was traveling recently and got a lot done on an 8-year old tablet. I was very productive, I suspect the combination of being offline (no 5G modem), no random notifications, just me, the terminal and a Bluetooth keyboard. The compact size & weight, and not having to worry about losing or having an expensive iLaptop stolen made for a worthwhile trade-off. Any productivity gains would have been marginal at best, and not worth the cost.

Re: How and Why I Stopped Buying New Laptops (2020)

#134

Post by kbelder »

scarface_74 wrote: post #47
thegrim33 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can just be an informed consumer and not buy laptops with non-replaceable components. Don't give bad products money and incentive to keep making more like them.

In 2025, I expect my laptop to be lightweight, fast, 14 hours+ on a single charge, silent and run cool. I care more about all of those features than the replaceable parts.

I would so gladly sacrifice lightweight for power, battery, reparability, or price.

Same with my phone.

Re: How and Why I Stopped Buying New Laptops (2020)

#135

Post by drillsteps5 »

linsomniac wrote: post #39
morningsam wrote: post #9

>I grumpily ordered a replacement key for 15 euros. A single key for 15€?! I remember ordering one from an online shop specialized in replacement laptop keys at some point in the 2010s and it was like 2€ total. Browsing through similar shops now, it seems like the minimum is 5€ per key nowadays, but still a far cry from 15€. >After spending more than 100 euros on plastic keys, which would soon break again, I calculat…

I used to be a Thinkpad die-hard (including both IBM and Lenovo), and as you say the full replacement keyboard was like $30US. And after replacing the keyboard, which I seemed to need to do every 3-ish years, it felt like a new laptop! Plus, the replacement would only take ~5-15 minutes. Unlike my daughter's friend's Dell, where basically everything had to come out of the laptop to get at the keyboard (battery, speak…

I love Thinkpads and have a few, but this depends on a model.

Some Thinkpads, more specifically x2xx series (ie x250 - x290) require removing all internals to get to the keyboard to replace it (batteries, storage, wifi, motherboard, speakers, CMOS battery, and a few others). Dell Latitude E5470 on the other hand allows replacing its keyboard by pulling out a small plastic panel and removing one screw.

Re: How and Why I Stopped Buying New Laptops (2020)

#136

Post by drillsteps5 »

Joeboy wrote: post #10

I presume, with Windows 10 support ending this year, there's going to be a glut of used laptops.

I thought so too, but it turns out there's a variety of ways to circumvent MS's hardware gatekeeping, such as CPU requirement (see: Tyny11 see: Rufus).

At least at this time, Windows 11 is not that much heavier/resource-needy than Windows 10. There's a small but non-negligible number of people running Win11 on things like Thinkpad x250 or T450 (Inter 5th gen CPU), for example.

The regular Joe Schmoe prob won't be able to do that, but he's not likely to use 2015 laptop in 2024 to begin with...

Re: How and Why I Stopped Buying New Laptops (2020)

#137

Post by jryle70 »

thegrim33 wrote: post #17
nottorp wrote: post #11

That's all fine when you use the laptop as a typewriter. I keep around a 2010 laptop that only has some text editing software on it for that exact reason. Unfortunately, with the advent of soldered ram and storage, this isn't feasible any more for more taxing uses. Most of the used devices will have the default ram and storage and you'll have to buy new so you can order the thing with enough resources.

You can just be an informed consumer and not buy laptops with non-replaceable components. Don't give bad products money and incentive to keep making more like them.

It's possible that some informed consumers choose longer battery life over replaceable parts. Your choice is not always the right choice.

Re: How and Why I Stopped Buying New Laptops (2020)

#138

Post by daveoc64 »

nottorp wrote: post #54
cconcannon wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you considered a Framework laptop? They have 13-inch and 16-inch models and are designed to be upgraded. https://frame.work/

Hah, I was going to say they're an US only thing but I opened their web site and they gave me localized pricing this time. Ofc, it's easy to run prices through a converter so I wonder where they ship from and where the warranty is located...

They've been offering their products in an ever expanding number of countries:

https://knowledgebase.frame.work/what-countries-and-regions-...

In terms of shipping, they have multiple warehouses around the world.

Re: How and Why I Stopped Buying New Laptops (2020)

#139

Post by ja27 »

em-bee wrote: post #62
scarface_74 wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In 2025, I expect my laptop to be lightweight, fast, 14 hours+ on a single charge, silent and run cool. I care more about all of those features than the replaceable parts.

the difference between a thinkpad T14 with replaceable RAM and SSD and a T14s with soldered RAM and SSD are minimal. depending on the specific generation and features, the T14s can be heavier than the T14. i'd accept soldered RAM if it is at least 16GB, (though 32GB would be better) because i'd rarely need more than that. but a soldered SSD never. that holds my precious data, and even if i have a full backup, i do wa…

The nice thing about picking up older laptops is that the upgraded models don't really hold as much extra value compared to what they cost new so if you keep looking you can get a pretty maxed out machine for not a lot more than the more common low-end ones.

Re: How and Why I Stopped Buying New Laptops (2020)

#140

Post by pjmlp »

mikepurvis wrote: post #15
Joeboy wrote: post #10

I presume, with Windows 10 support ending this year, there's going to be a glut of used laptops.

This will be an interesting one to observe; will Canonical and others be able to capitalize on the Microsoft FUD around secure boot to convert users? Alternatively, can the community come up with some interesting uses for all the machines?

No, this has become a meme of the Year of Desktop Linux.

Everytime Microsoft does something that apparently pisses off people, we get tons of suggestions that now everyone is finally going to migrate in droves into GNU/Linux, and then nothing happens.

Meanwhile the only Linux based devices that are actually successful among normies, are those that hide the fact there is the Linux kernel running underneath, expose no CLI, and have everything done in basic graphical workflows without any FOSS religion.

Chromebooks, Android, DVD and BluRay players, TV setup boxes, SmartTVs,....

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