There are also Linux ready ThinkPads. I would never ever work again on a laptop which doesn't have a trackpoint (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointing_stick). Being able to operate everything without moving the hand away from the keyboard is just great. I also have Macs, but I neither like the keyboard nor the single button trackpad.
Switching from Apple to Lenovo
41–50 of 91 posts
Re: Switching from Apple to Lenovo
#42I have one of each (Windows, Linux, Mac). On the whole, I don't find any dramatically superior. PC laptops do have a race-to-the-bottom. Even top-of-the-line laptops are luck-of-the-draw. Lenovo is far more scammy than IBM ThinkPads of the golden age. I think the idea is you need to be 5% better than the competition to control the high-end market, and they cut quality until they hit that. Apple quality is much more c…
Surface devices are great really, no bloatware and clean Windows
Re: Switching from Apple to Lenovo
#43I dunno, seems like the author had their mind made up from the get go. I use a T480 with Windows and its been a great experience. Lenovo doesn't bog down the image with their own software and it only had their firmware manager.
> Lenovo doesn't bog down the image with their own software and it only had their firmware manager.
Even if they don't, the first thing I would do when buying a new computer is nuke the hard drive and do a fresh install.
For me nowadays, it's Linux (NixOS) with LUKS+LVM, but I would do it when I used Windows as well.
Re: Switching from Apple to Lenovo
#44Earlier quoted context omitted.
It works fine nowadays in general for software development with: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/about You can even have VS code running extension on it and such: https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/remote/wsl Source: I did software development on a window machine recently for a job.
It unfortunately doesn't work fine as an OS. I moved to Macs over two years ago, had to work on multiple Macs(2 2018, 1 2020) and literally had ONE issue during update which was solved in 15 seconds by rebooting into whatever the name of the super menu in Macs. My girlfriend on the other hand routinely faces issues with Windows updates, drivers issues, WiFi not working, random restarts, noise issues. And this is on 2…
Some $500 windows laptop are perfectly reliable, and some $3000 laptops are full of issues- unfortunately all I can do, is but one online, and return it if it has issues.
I had self-built 3 desktops over 10 years and they have been rock solid. With a laptop there is an entire team of engineers to select and vet parts, I threw together random parts. It is still a mystery to me how that is possible.
Re: Switching from Apple to Lenovo
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
so reproducible on the metal or on a VM on the host OS? I have a very little skin in the game but always interested in other peoples takes (I am trying to relaunch github.com/mikadosoftware/workstation - basically I want to get ssh -X working for wayland on fedora)
Not sure i follow - but reproducible in the sense that i want a lockfile (ala Cargo, NPM, etc) for my entire operating system. Allowing me to rebuild it perfectly. NixOS has a lot of flaws in my mind (though some may just be inexperience), but it has some super solid concepts of configuration first systems.
I have not played with NixOS - my project above was to build a workstation in docker that would hold all my daily stuff at a fixed defined level - like a lockfile I guess but a docker file.
I suspect that even the same docker file has much more wriggle room than a nixos definition - it again not too clear on that
Re: Switching from Apple to Lenovo
#46The most insightfull part of the article, to me, relates to Lenovo's website and customer communication:
"Everything seems to be on sale all the time, there are laptops of different generations of the same product line being advertised to you."
I feel this is on point, and i felt the same buying monitor from LG, it took hours of research to tell the difference between their models, etc - its arcane and impossible for the uninitiated. While building a good OS is hard, getting half decent website and legible model names surely isn't?
Re: Switching from Apple to Lenovo
#47Earlier quoted context omitted.
Agreed. I switched from macOS to Linux, and i don't see the point if you're not getting something very valuable out of it. I am however, in my mind, so i'm quite happpy. Specifically, i'm toying with immutable operating systems. I view that as valuable because i feel confident in the stability and reproducibility of my system. I'd probably switch back to macOS if they offered something similar to NixOS, but that seem…
If you invest some time building your own linux environment, e.g. Xfce or openbox, or kde.. You will probably found that once it completely works the way you customize it, it will work until You break it. I've seen testimonials of guys using rolling releases of Linux or, some debian based distro that runs for years without any issue. No scam installed alongside your OS. Well... I use arch btw.
Agreed. I've been a Linux desktop user since the mid 90s. It was difficult at first but that was also when Linux was in its infancy. I've had nearly the same working environment now for over a decade. I've matured it a bit but it's still just xfce, Firefox and vim on a thinkpad. The world of mainstream UIs has taken some wild shifts and each one seems to be intent on breaking muscle memory and changing core concepts that you're promised will make your life better, once _you_ adapt. I've never had those problems. My systems just work.
Re: Switching from Apple to Lenovo
#48I have one of each (Windows, Linux, Mac). On the whole, I don't find any dramatically superior. PC laptops do have a race-to-the-bottom. Even top-of-the-line laptops are luck-of-the-draw. Lenovo is far more scammy than IBM ThinkPads of the golden age. I think the idea is you need to be 5% better than the competition to control the high-end market, and they cut quality until they hit that. Apple quality is much more c…
I don't think update policy is hostile, it is an over-correction of the problem they had before, where average laptop had 3 trojans fighting for control. For the unwashed masses, its certainly an improvement
Re: Switching from Apple to Lenovo
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ultimately, this is what I found since switching from Windows to macOS back in 2014. The build quality of their computers is second to none. There are some manufacturers that get close to Apple build quality, but their price is right up there, too. Not to mention, the warranty coverage and support from Apple is second-to-none. I've had a few issues with laptops over the years (the late 2016 model, but not the keyboar…
I've never had to use my Dell (or Lenovo) warranties, because their laptops have never failed me. And they're all cheaper than their Apple counterparts of the same class. OTOH, everyone I know with an Apple raves about their customer service (in the US)...because they've all had to replace their Apple laptops at some point. Every. Single. One of them. Apple customer service is great because it has to be. If Apple did…
> And they're all cheaper than their Apple counterparts of the same class.
I'm not really sure this is true. Last time I shopped for a laptop, the premium series ThinkPads (T or X series or so) cost pretty much the same as a similarly specced MBP. A Dell XPS didn't differ that much. The Apple hardware might even had a bit more oomph than a similarly priced ThinkPad or XPS, e.g. by having a CPU with a higher TDP.
An X1 Carbon from Lenovo would have cost more than almost any other laptop with similar specs.
Of course things might have changed in recent years, or pricing could be somewhat different in different markets (I'm in Europe). Cheaper series (such as ThinkPad E or L or whatever they've got nowadays) would of course also be cheaper. But based on what I saw, the old trope about Apple laptops being especially expensive didn't seem to hold if you compared it with premium models from other manufacturers, and not with value models.
FWIW, I ended up with Lenovo in any case and haven't been disappointed. But price wasn't really the reason.
Re: Switching from Apple to Lenovo
#50I have one of each (Windows, Linux, Mac). On the whole, I don't find any dramatically superior. PC laptops do have a race-to-the-bottom. Even top-of-the-line laptops are luck-of-the-draw. Lenovo is far more scammy than IBM ThinkPads of the golden age. I think the idea is you need to be 5% better than the competition to control the high-end market, and they cut quality until they hit that. Apple quality is much more c…
I don't think update policy is hostile, it is an over-correction of the problem they had before, where average laptop had 3 trojans fighting for control. For the unwashed masses, its certainly an improvement
I don't mind security updates.
I DO mind updates which install increasing amount of Microsoft spyware and adware. Windows 10 wants to track my every motion, direct me to content, up-sell me crappy games and apps, or try to pressure me to do things in the Microsoft cloud.
I'd like it to be my computer. If I wanted my computer to be a lease from a corporation, I'd get a Chromebook.