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Replacing my MacBook Air M1 with a ThinkPad T480

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Re: Replacing my MacBook Air M1 with a ThinkPad T480

#181

Post by drbscl »

petepete wrote: post #78
junipertea wrote: post #8

I love thinkpads but the T480 is basically objectively worse in every single aspect except price and repairability. I don’t think I can go back from all day battery and quiet CPU during high loads. I could definitely use my T450 for however long I need and know I can replace parts, but I’d rather have macs for 5 years and upgrade for another performance bump. Some things are just nicer

> ...except price and repairability. And keyboard.

Thinkpad keyboards have been pretty bad for a few generations now. My old T470's keyboard flexed in the corners.

Re: Replacing my MacBook Air M1 with a ThinkPad T480

#182

Post by kramerger »

rbanffy wrote: post #37

I do a lot of development work on a tiny Acer with 8GB of RAM and an Atom-class processor. Not fast, but fast enough. I rarely need to wait more than a couple seconds between editing something and seeing the results. And making it impossible to open lots of browser tabs is actually nice for productivity.

Surprised you get downvoted for this comment...

I've an insanely powerful (and expensive) laptop from work. But looking back, most of the work I'm actually proud of was done in really cheap laptops. Maybe success is more about being comfortable with the tool you have than having the most expensive tool??

Re: Replacing my MacBook Air M1 with a ThinkPad T480

#183

Post by dijit »

nicolas_t wrote: post #56

The main reason I love my M1 is that it's cool to the touch after switching from an intel based mbp to an m1, I went from an average of 90 degrees Celsius (there was definitely an issue in the factory with thermal paste I think) to an average of 40-50 degrees Celsius. I can't imagine ever going back to an intel based laptop because of this (and in my experience, thinkpads don't run that cool for my uses with arch lin…

tbf it is a design consideration from intel: they openly consider that they are leaving performance on the table if they're not running close to 100C.

Which, while great for a desktop, is very uncomfortable (and loud) on a laptop.

So far I haven't seen a way to configure it, turbo boost is commonly not an option to disable in laptop bioses (at least not the Dell Precision I had).

Re: Replacing my MacBook Air M1 with a ThinkPad T480

#184

Post by kuschku »

dachryn wrote: post #109
kuschku wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> screen quality > battery life > speakers > trackpad All things you can replace with the T480. Which I've done, and can just recommend. There's much better options than the ones shipped by default, including trackpads rivalling the M1, a screen that beats the M1, and a battery that has 20h+ capacity and can be swapped with a second one to double the capacity in seconds.

can you actually link to the ones you recommend then? Because I am quite interested then in figuring out the economics side of obtaining one

I’ve modded mine with 16 GB DDR-3 3200MHz RAM [2], a 2 TB NVMe SSD [3], a Wi-Fi 6AX card [4], the Innolux N140HCG-GQ2 1080p 100% sRGB 8-bit 400 nits panel [5] (based on the T14 display), and the Lenovo 61++ battery [6].

Depending on region and local pricing, all mods together should be around 300$.

[2] https://www.amazon.de/dp/B08LQG2SDS/ [3] https://www.amazon.de/dp/B07MLJD32L/ [4] https://www.amazon.de/dp/B097TQ7HBF/ [5] https://www.xelent-store.de/Innolux-N140HCG-GQ2-400cd-Low-Po... [6] https://www.amazon.de/dp/B06WGMPFCD

Re: Replacing my MacBook Air M1 with a ThinkPad T480

#185

Post by petodo »

I am uisng T520 as my work computer, used also wife's brand new T14 and honestly besides the thickness of the body the experience was underwhelming, there is pretty much zero reason for me to upgrade to newer much more expensive Thinkpad which will save me what maybe <5% of my time by being hardly any faster at anything I do. Now she got some new company Macbook and man that's one horrendous keyboard and lack of connectors, I think you cant even plug there regular USB (A) key.

Re: Replacing my MacBook Air M1 with a ThinkPad T480

#186

Post by niclo »

arcticbull wrote: post #140
goosedragons wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

T480 weighs 3.6lb vs. 3.5 for a 14" M1. I'm surprised you noticed. MBP doesn't have a trackpoint. Still can't run Linux as well, lacks USB A so still requires constant dongles despite improved port selection. I moved from a 2018 15" MBP to a P14s Gen 2 AMD. The speakers, screen, trackpad are worse. But I don't care. I'm not stuck using a horrible OS with miniscule amounts of storage to keep the price down. The machin…

> MBP doesn't have a trackpoint. Still can't run Linux as well, lacks USB A so still requires constant dongles despite improved port selection. I've never wanted a nipple mouse, but to each their own and I know some people love them. What I have wanted is a giant 6" diagonal multi-touch trackpad. Linux is very much a non-goal for me, and if I want to, I can always SSH into a remote instance or run a VM. I don't miss…

> You will not find the same on an M1/2. In fact I'm not sure it even warms up?

My M2 does quite regularly with only Chrome, Slack, VS Code and a few docker containers running.

Re: Replacing my MacBook Air M1 with a ThinkPad T480

#187

Post by jojobas »

dijit wrote: post #179
jojobas wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The best things in life can't be bought ready and require thought and even sacrifice.

Ikea furniture requires you to build it. The best beds on the planet are pre-assembled. Not saying the exact thing you're saying isn't true (IE; the best things in life are actually not things but relationships and experiences); but it is categorically untrue that "the best products require you to build them".

Messing with a few screws and latches is not exactly "building". "The best bed" depends on who's asking, and it would have to be built for you.

Similarly, you could hire someone to build a laptop for you if you categorically object.

Rather than a bed, a better analogy is a home - even the best ready plan can be improved for a particular family. Apple just doesn't allow that.

Re: Replacing my MacBook Air M1 with a ThinkPad T480

#188

Post by kuschku »

messe wrote: post #72
kuschku wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> screen quality > battery life > speakers > trackpad All things you can replace with the T480. Which I've done, and can just recommend. There's much better options than the ones shipped by default, including trackpads rivalling the M1, a screen that beats the M1, and a battery that has 20h+ capacity and can be swapped with a second one to double the capacity in seconds.

> a screen that beats the M1 By what metrics?

By whatever metrics you want, you can choose which panel to install.

Re: Replacing my MacBook Air M1 with a ThinkPad T480

#189

Post by alexvoda »

nicbou wrote: post #128
sschueller wrote: post #74

The biggest contrast here and what we should be concerned about is the fact that this old Thinkpad can be upgraded and still be used vs an old macbook that if speced too low is now useless and ends up on a landfill. Not even considering that new macbooks if locked are unusable on the secondary market and get tossed even if the hardware is perfectly fine. It's as if we have given up on "solving" climate change in favo…

In practice old MacBooks tend to have a much longer useful life in my experience. I'm working on a 12" Macbook and I love it. It's still decently fast for.the lowest specced Macbook from 6 years ago. It supplements a 2017 Macbook Pro that's still overkill in 2022. Both have excellent battery life. If it wasn't for the nearly free upgrade I got in 2017, I'd probably still rock a 2012 model.

Old MacBooks used to be more upgradable. I did upgrade my old MacBook and did prolong it's life. Current MacBooks have 0 upgradability. Once the specs are too low, that's that.

Also, current MacBooks used in corporate environments do not reach the second hand market because the SSD is no longer an independent component. They get shredded. Perfectly good barely old computers get shredded because one component is no longer separate.

Re: Replacing my MacBook Air M1 with a ThinkPad T480

#190

Post by thfuran »

wongarsu wrote: post #81
KyeRussell wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Resorting to silly Mac user stereotypes that were barely true when they dropped in 2008 is a good way to tell people you’ve never used a Mac or been to a Starbucks in a decade.

This is the comment where I now get offended that you said that as if not using a Mac or not going to Starbucks are shameful. It's rare to see such a flame war on hn

No, they said it as if GP had no idea what they were talking about.
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