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Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

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Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#241

Post by hackyhacky »

uxcolumbo wrote: post #179
gabereiser wrote: post #45

I find it rather peculiar that tech folks think a plastic laptop is good build quality considering what we have from Apple and others. I wish more linux laptops had the build quality and support of macbooks. This isn't a rant from an Apple fan, this is a rant from a laptop fan. ThinkPad's aren't good laptops despite what the guy with the pocket protector says. They are flimsy and feel cheap. They still have 20th cent…

I've been a Thinkpad user for the last 15 years. The body is extremely sturdy along with the hinges. It's not plastic - it's magnesium alloy. They are not flimsy or cheap. Have you ever used a trackpoint? It's extremely ergonomic and much better than a trackpad. It requires a bit of time to get used to it - but it's totally worth the time investment. And please don't make comments like 'Grandfather's laptop'. Just be…

TrackPoints are a fantastic feature and are one of the most important criteria keeping me on ThinkPads.

The casual dismissal of TrackPoints in the grandparent comment shows that the author has never tried one.

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#242

Post by tarek_computer »

tarek_computer wrote: post #191

Anyone with P1 Gen 2 had issues with the built_in speakers? I can only get the right-sided speaker to work even after replacing them.

I am running Arch Linux with Kernel 5.17.5-arch1-1. The speakers do work fine on Windows but for some reason I cannot get them both to work in Linux? Whatever settings I do using Arch's wiki, I can get everything working fine with external speakers, Bluetooth speakers, headphones, but just not the right-sided speaker. Not sure if anyone has the same issue.

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#243

Post by 22SAS »

fps_doug wrote: post #234
LeonM wrote: post #193

Based on all the comments on HN about how great Thinkpads are supposed to be with Linux, I bought an X1-Extreme some time ago. From my experience, Linux support for Lenovo devices is terrible. ACPI, power management, and UEFI are consistently causing problems. Grub has an issue with the 4K display, causing it to render at about 1 FPS. The dual-GPU (Intel and nVidia) situation is unworkable under Linux. Suspend on lid…

Yes, people who tell you that you can blindly buy any Lenovo laptop for Linux are lying. You have to do some googling first. Or check the inofficial Thinkpad Wiki. But other than that, if you pick a device that's recommended for use with Linux, it's as good as it gets regarding Linux on laptops if you ask me. Saying that your next Laptop isn't a Lenovo because your random purchase sucked is a little :rolleyes: Oh and…

I agree. I got a Lenovo Thinkpad L13 and I got lucky that there were no major issues running Linux on it. Although, this will be my last Lenovo laptop and also running Linux on a laptop.

I use Linux entirely for programming, and I already do that on VM's, on a server that I have. I basically just need to SSH and start Vim to do whatever I need to.

I have decided to move to using a Macbook Air with OS X. I like iTerm2 more and can just SSH into my Linux VM's. I am waiting to see if the new Air's launched this year will have dual monitor support, otherwise will just get an Intel based Macbook Air from 2019 or 2020.

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#244

Post by capableweb »

murermader wrote: post #124
Stratoscope wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a bit like asking "who still uses keyboard shortcuts?" After all, there is really no reason that anyone using Paint in Windows would ever type Alt+F and then A when they want to do a Save As... Right? Sure, it worked for the last 30 years. But come on, who ever would type Alt+F and A? It has to be less than 1% of all the Windows users out there. And our telemetry proves it! If you have a billion Windows users…

Thanks for pointing that out. The Windows 11 dialog does not take any keyboard shortucts. I can't even use Enter or Escape, or switch between the options using arrow keys. This has to be a bug, right. Right? I think it is literally impossible to exit the program without a mouse, after you did something that requires saving.

> Thanks for pointing that out. The Windows 11 dialog does not take any keyboard shortucts. I can't even use Enter or Escape, or switch between the options using arrow keys. This has to be a bug, right. Right?

Lately I've been thinking of finally upgrading Windows 11 since they keep pushing untimely prompts to do so more and more frequently, but reading this makes me glad I've hold off. If they still have major bugs like that, I'll wait another year or two before considering it again.

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#245

Post by bhaak »

> Lenovo is famous for their TrackPoint (that little red thing on the keyboard), but I am not sure if I’ll take the time to learn using it. Some say it’s far more precise and comfortable as you don’t have to lift your fingers from the keyboard. I might give it a shot sometime.

Why buy a ThinkPad if you don't use its most important selling point?

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#246

Post by jotm »

bhaak wrote: post #245

> Lenovo is famous for their TrackPoint (that little red thing on the keyboard), but I am not sure if I’ll take the time to learn using it. Some say it’s far more precise and comfortable as you don’t have to lift your fingers from the keyboard. I might give it a shot sometime. Why buy a ThinkPad if you don't use its most important selling point?

I used to be really good at using that. Even played FPS games using just the TrackPoint and laptop keyboard. I have had one on nearly every laptop I owned (OmniBooks, later Elitebooks and ZBooks) but kinda stopped using it and now it feels really awkward.

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#247

Post by rgrmrts »

bhaak wrote: post #245

> Lenovo is famous for their TrackPoint (that little red thing on the keyboard), but I am not sure if I’ll take the time to learn using it. Some say it’s far more precise and comfortable as you don’t have to lift your fingers from the keyboard. I might give it a shot sometime. Why buy a ThinkPad if you don't use its most important selling point?

They’re still one of the better options if you want a powerful laptop (read: desktop replacement) to run Linux on. The only competitive option is Dell Precision series (imo).

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#248

Post by PetitPrince »

avl999 wrote: post #139
gabereiser wrote: post #45

I find it rather peculiar that tech folks think a plastic laptop is good build quality considering what we have from Apple and others. I wish more linux laptops had the build quality and support of macbooks. This isn't a rant from an Apple fan, this is a rant from a laptop fan. ThinkPad's aren't good laptops despite what the guy with the pocket protector says. They are flimsy and feel cheap. They still have 20th cent…

Thinkpads work. They don't make user hostile choices like zero-upgradability and zero-repairablity, the touchbar, replacing the esc key with the touch bar 'key' (only to roll it back) like the the macbooks. They also don't make confusing usability decisions like the giant ass trackpad that routinely registers false positives as you type. I recently got an old refurbished Thinkpad T430 for casual use when I am not nea…

> They don't make user hostile choice like [...] the touch bar

This is false.

This monstrosity first appeared on the X1 Carbon 2nd gen (along with the loss of our beloved dedicated trackpoint buttons), and the backlash was so big that they reinstated all the buttons for the next generation.

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#249

Post by rgrmrts »

NikolaNovak wrote: post #223
LeonM wrote: post #193

Based on all the comments on HN about how great Thinkpads are supposed to be with Linux, I bought an X1-Extreme some time ago. From my experience, Linux support for Lenovo devices is terrible. ACPI, power management, and UEFI are consistently causing problems. Grub has an issue with the 4K display, causing it to render at about 1 FPS. The dual-GPU (Intel and nVidia) situation is unworkable under Linux. Suspend on lid…

Thank you for sharing; these comments make me pause. At work, RHEL on Thinkpad is one of the standard offerings, and has continued to be across many generations. EVERYTHING works. I've had a work-provided RHEL Thinkpad (T450) which was smooth and seamless, as have my colleagues (most of them chose X1 variations, some T480, some with the newer T14). I have a large number of Thinkpads at home and I want to install Linu…

Older (1/2 years) models will generally have good support. In my experience you start running into issues when you purchase the latest gen and kernel support hasn’t yet caught up (e.g. 12th gen Intel processors)

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#250

Post by halotrope »

hef19898 wrote: post #217
halotrope wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I suspect it should be fine with dGPU and 1080p screen. I think in addition to the greater power draw, the compute needed to drive the 4k is just greater. In fairness I keep the dGPU active all the time as the Intel GPU produces significant UI lag under Linux at least.

I hate non-dedicated GPUs with a vengeance. As a gamer, they never are up to par anyway, and never were. Even way back, Windows struggled balancing both. So you had to switch one of them off. I get that they are useful for non-GPU heavy use cases, in a gaming machine I can perfectly live with dGPUs. As a result, I never tried the Intel GPU under Ubuntu.

Yes agreed. But as a gamer a thin Thinkpad running Linux would not be my first choice anyways.
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