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ThinkPad T480 is my new main laptop which runs FreeBSD

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Re: ThinkPad T480 is my new main laptop which runs FreeBSD

#41

Post by allochthon »

0xff00ffee wrote: post #23

How about the trackpad? And the power switch? I've been running Ubuntu and Kali on a Dell machine for a few years and the trackpad has always been unusuable and the power switch is always power-down (instead of sleep, standby). Yes, I've messed with the xorg settings for the trackpad and the ACPI settings for the button, but gave up.

Slightly related: I'm running Ubuntu on a Thinkpad and the trackpad is pretty painful to use (after using macOS for years). I went out and bought a mouse a few days ago for this reason.

Re: ThinkPad T480 is my new main laptop which runs FreeBSD

#42

Post by bluedino »

tedunangst wrote: post #14
xxpor wrote: post #2

>Ethernet and WiFi work, although WiFi is a bit slow (only up to 802.11a?) compared to 802.11n/802.11ac capable OSes. And stuff like this is why I've never stuck with FreeBSD when I've tried it. I screw around with debugging issues all day at work. Why would I want to try to figure out why something as fundamental as wifi isn't working in my spare time?

Because it's fast enough you don't notice it's "slow" outside of benchmarks?

If you only have 6Mbs DSL for an internet connection, you won't notice!

Re: ThinkPad T480 is my new main laptop which runs FreeBSD

#43

Post by post_break »

funklute wrote: post #12
namirez wrote: post #3

The other good development with Thinkpads is the introduction of AMD processors in their mainstream offerings (T495, T495s, X395, etc.). Unfortunately their screens suck though.

The screens are actually the very reason I choose a thinkpad over a mac. Gloss screens are pretty much impossible to work on if you prefer dark colorschemes, and at least the thinkpads give you the matte option.

You can buy matte screen protectors. I put one on my macbook and it was night and day.

Re: ThinkPad T480 is my new main laptop which runs FreeBSD

#44

Post by 0xff00ffee »

allochthon wrote: post #41
0xff00ffee wrote: post #23

How about the trackpad? And the power switch? I've been running Ubuntu and Kali on a Dell machine for a few years and the trackpad has always been unusuable and the power switch is always power-down (instead of sleep, standby). Yes, I've messed with the xorg settings for the trackpad and the ACPI settings for the button, but gave up.

Slightly related: I'm running Ubuntu on a Thinkpad and the trackpad is pretty painful to use (after using macOS for years). I went out and bought a mouse a few days ago for this reason.

It is bizarre how good mac laptop touchpads are. I've used a number of Windows laptops and nothing comes close (caveat: I've never used a top-tier Win laptop).

Re: ThinkPad T480 is my new main laptop which runs FreeBSD

#46

Post by jszymborski »

namirez wrote: post #3

The other good development with Thinkpads is the introduction of AMD processors in their mainstream offerings (T495, T495s, X395, etc.). Unfortunately their screens suck though.

I just recently bought a T495 and am really happy with it :) I also opted for the (pricey) screen upgrade, so YMMV.

Re: ThinkPad T480 is my new main laptop which runs FreeBSD

#47

Post by reidrac »

dijit wrote: post #22
tedunangst wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it's fast enough you don't notice it's "slow" outside of benchmarks?

802.11a is not just slow in benchmarks. That’s easily perceptibly slow, even when doing ordinary web browsing (given that web pages are orders of magnitude larger than when 802.11a was mainstream) Theoretically 802.11a is the same speed as 802.11g, but in practice it drops off super quickly and means a “simple” page (like gmail/outlook) is loading in 30s-1m.

It operates on the 5GHz frequency, instead of 2.4GHz of 802.11b/g (802.11b was more popular when 802.11g was still a draft).

Not sure if that was a factor or just that being less popular there was less investment to make it "better".

I don't think I ever saw a card supporting 802.11a exclusively, it was part of a chip supporting multiple standards. And then you would always use 802.11g.

Re: ThinkPad T480 is my new main laptop which runs FreeBSD

#48

Post by hdkwowjdj »

funklute wrote: post #12
namirez wrote: post #3

The other good development with Thinkpads is the introduction of AMD processors in their mainstream offerings (T495, T495s, X395, etc.). Unfortunately their screens suck though.

The screens are actually the very reason I choose a thinkpad over a mac. Gloss screens are pretty much impossible to work on if you prefer dark colorschemes, and at least the thinkpads give you the matte option.

Another of these things I don't get. Matte screens become unreadable with indirect light. I've been a long time ThinkPad user.

But dim screens just don't work, no matter if it's matte or not. Bright screen with anti-reflective layer work much better, hate to say that.

Re: ThinkPad T480 is my new main laptop which runs FreeBSD

#49

Post by ahnick »

protanopia wrote: post #33
revicon wrote: post #7

I also have a t480, mines running Ubuntu but unfortunately I’m giving it up for a new MacBook Air. The touchpads on the thinkpads are beyond horrible after using macs for many years, it’s finally too annoying for me to keep going :(

Try disabling the trackpad and then just use the trackpoint.

I have this exact model and have attempted to use trackpoint under Ubuntu and it is just slow and I'm constantly overshooting my target. I'm so much better with the trackpad that I really wonder how people that use trackpoint swear by it. I must be missing something.

Re: ThinkPad T480 is my new main laptop which runs FreeBSD

#50

Post by namirez »

funklute wrote: post #12
namirez wrote: post #3

The other good development with Thinkpads is the introduction of AMD processors in their mainstream offerings (T495, T495s, X395, etc.). Unfortunately their screens suck though.

The screens are actually the very reason I choose a thinkpad over a mac. Gloss screens are pretty much impossible to work on if you prefer dark colorschemes, and at least the thinkpads give you the matte option.

I like matte screens too but my problem is their brightness. T495s comes with a 250 nits screen which can be quite dim. The Intel models have more screen options.
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