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Lenovo tablet forced update shows un-dismissable, un-mutable, ad notifications

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Re: Lenovo tablet forced update shows un-dismissable, un-mutable, ad notifications

#171
post #133
post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The sad thing is that they're still better than everything else out there. They haven't ever been better than Apple laptop hardware, even in Intel-land. There seems to be this common bias in PC laptop evaluation that excludes Apple machines from consideration when doing comparisons. Apple makes the best x64 laptops, and has for years. Sadly, they will stop soon.

Can I run Linux on them? Can I get them with keyboards that aren't awful? Can I get them with next-business-day-on-site warranty? Not trying to be snarky here, I haven't owned an Apple product since the iMac, so I literally don't know. But I suspect the answer is "no".

Um, trackpads suck.

Re: Lenovo tablet forced update shows un-dismissable, un-mutable, ad notifications

#172
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The thinkpad line is still pretty solid. Meh. The trackpoint and keypad on my X1 are far inferior to previous Thinkpads, like the X220, before they decided their overarching mission was to make things as thin as possible. The trackpoint is sometimes unusable and is a chore to use at all times whereas the older ones were fun.

FWIW, Intel has been forcing manufacturers hand when it comes to thickness. Since their high performance laptop processors have stagnated on the last decade, they've created programs to encourage thin laptops. Both the old "Intel Ultrabook" and the new "Intel Evo" tightly restrict thickness in the 12-14" laptop segment. I won't give Lenovo a free pass, but it's part of why keytravel and cooling solutions are pretty a…

>Both the old "Intel Ultrabook" and the new "Intel Evo" tightly restrict thickness in the 12-14" laptop segment.

How do those programs work? Do you need to meet a certain thickness to get called an ultrabook? Why can't manufacturers just opt out and make a notebook without "ultrabook" slapped on it?

Re: Lenovo tablet forced update shows un-dismissable, un-mutable, ad notifications

#173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have always liked the keyboard more. My opinion is that Apple prioritizes how the keyboard looks and how thin it is over the actual function and experience of using it. It blows my mind that people buy their desktop keyboard which is basically a laptop keyboard in small case. I believe the ability to repair or swap components has always been better with Lenovo. Apple beats Lenovo in a lot of other ways though, audi…

Finding a good Mac-layout mechanical keyboard that I liked was a total chore, I eventually got the Vinpok Taptek which I'm really pleased with but I can't find replacement keycaps for the life of me.

I... don't understand this. I've been using exclusively mechanical keyboards since the very early 90s, and I've been using nearly-exclusively Macs since the very early 2000s. I've never had an issue here. Mechanical keyboards, as a general rule, are programmable, and have swappable keycaps. It's a simple matter to swap the keycaps if you are adjusted to the Windows mandated keyboard layout ordering and how that's mapped automatically in macOS, or slightly more work to remap the keys /and/ change the keycaps. That's not even considering that some of the greatest pre-built mechanical keyboards in the 90s and early 2000s were Mac specific, like options using Alps key switches for instance.

There are many many many many mechanical keyboard options to use with a Mac. If you're legitimately having difficulty finding a solution, feel free to reach out to me via the contact information in my profile and I'll be happy to make some specific recommendations.

Re: Lenovo tablet forced update shows un-dismissable, un-mutable, ad notifications

#174
post #29

Gentle reminder that Lenovo jumped the shark quite a while ago. The whole Superfish debacle, the spyware, the crapware, the endless stream of shitty decisions. Year after year, the hardware gets worse. Customer support gets worse. The sad thing is that they're still better than everything else out there. Which says a lot about the laptop industry in general.

Anecdote: Over the past few years, I've owned an Asus laptop (thin/light), two Lenovo laptops, and an HP. Before that, a large Dell gaming laptop. Most recently, I had bought the HP Omen 15, but realizing that the screen used PWM below 100% brightness, I sold it and bought a Lenovo Legion 5. The previous Lenovo is a Y540. The Y540 is arguably "good but not great" build quality. If you squint, it looks kind of like th…

> realizing that the screen used PWM below 100% brightness

Isn't that the normal way to dim an LED? Was the frequency too low, or what was the issue?

Re: Lenovo tablet forced update shows un-dismissable, un-mutable, ad notifications

#175

Does anyone actually buy Lenovos after what happened with SuperFish? [0] [0] https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/superfish-to...

1 old thinkpad linux over apple since 2003/4. Apple fan boy from 1986 to about then. I miss adb and the nubus, but that really is too much ti expect, now isn't it.

Re: Lenovo tablet forced update shows un-dismissable, un-mutable, ad notifications

#176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have always liked the keyboard more. My opinion is that Apple prioritizes how the keyboard looks and how thin it is over the actual function and experience of using it. It blows my mind that people buy their desktop keyboard which is basically a laptop keyboard in small case. I believe the ability to repair or swap components has always been better with Lenovo. Apple beats Lenovo in a lot of other ways though, audi…

Finding a good Mac-layout mechanical keyboard that I liked was a total chore, I eventually got the Vinpok Taptek which I'm really pleased with but I can't find replacement keycaps for the life of me.

I use a standard US layout TKL mechanical keyboard and remap the keys with karabiner. Are you looking for things beyond that?

Re: Lenovo tablet forced update shows un-dismissable, un-mutable, ad notifications

#177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are plenty of 1000$+ laptops you can purchase these days with good specs that compete with Apple’s lineup of MacBooks.

Name them please, because I've looked and there seems to be a slew of compromises in every option that make them worse than a MBP.

I switched from a MBP to a Razor Blade 14, with their 4k screen option. I forget what I paid but it was on par with a similarly specced MBP.

The only real compromise that I've noticed is that the battery life isn't as good. But part of the reason for that is that it has an actual graphics card (albeit not a great one). So it's more of a trade-off than a compromise, the ability to do light gaming is worth it for me.

Re: Lenovo tablet forced update shows un-dismissable, un-mutable, ad notifications

#178
post #118
post #78

This is despicable, and it's indicative of a trend I've been noticing over the years. Personal computing used to be about user empowerment. Today it seems to me that many tech companies treat their users as nothing more than either "eyeballs" to show ads to or as cows to be milked through vendor lock-in and subscription services. Either way, I feel the user experience has degraded in recent years, and I feel we incre…

My first laptop was a Toshiba Satellite in 2003 and it was crawling with bloatware, e.g Norton/Mcafee Antivirus popups. If you want to go bloat-free, buy from the business product lines, not the consumer ones. Although with the always-online Windows 11, it might be time to dump Windows altogether.

There are so many great Linux versions now which are end-user friendly. I've been impressed by Linux Mint and of course Ubuntu. The hardest part is just picking one and sticking to it.

Re: Lenovo tablet forced update shows un-dismissable, un-mutable, ad notifications

#179
post #118
post #78

This is despicable, and it's indicative of a trend I've been noticing over the years. Personal computing used to be about user empowerment. Today it seems to me that many tech companies treat their users as nothing more than either "eyeballs" to show ads to or as cows to be milked through vendor lock-in and subscription services. Either way, I feel the user experience has degraded in recent years, and I feel we incre…

My first laptop was a Toshiba Satellite in 2003 and it was crawling with bloatware, e.g Norton/Mcafee Antivirus popups. If you want to go bloat-free, buy from the business product lines, not the consumer ones. Although with the always-online Windows 11, it might be time to dump Windows altogether.

That's very easily resolved with a fresh install though. And it's always been.

The problem with the more locked down nature of devices these days, especially mobile, is that that isn't an option anymore like with this Lenovo update.

Re: Lenovo tablet forced update shows un-dismissable, un-mutable, ad notifications

#180
post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is an invisible advantage that Apple has. Because Macs don't have a long tail of combinations of hardware, BIOS, firmware, etc they can actually recognize bugs and acknowledge them. This gives a better customer experience.

They made a design flaw (too short flex cable for monitor) on some laptops but only offered extended warranty fixes to the less expensive versions of that laptop. Apple is not the champion you think it is. Also they made their phone have random errors and slowness if you replaced the camera module with no error message so that you would blame the tech shop you got it repaired at for "breaking it".

At least within the eco system, Apple aren’t going to push ads onto your computer.

The dichotomy isn’t Apple vs PC anymore. It’s walled garden vs freedom. If you’re going to choose a walled garden, Apple sure is the nicest. If you want to own your hardware you need to start supporting the smaller players.

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