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Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

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Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#401

Post by Melatonic »

jotm wrote: post #246
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.

I found it not nearly as good on the HP's compared to a Thinkpad

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#402

Post by uxcolumbo »

gabereiser wrote: post #365
hackyhacky wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I’ve used them quite a bit. They were standard issue at a certain place named after a hat. It is NOT a fantastic feature to have your mouse move when you type which I found happened constantly when using a ThinkPad. 1) the eraser mouse “track point” was novel in 1994, not anymore. It’s in the way. Likewise with the physical mouse buttons on the trackpad. It’s 2022. We have touch screens with gestures and stuff. Why d…

How did you use the trackpoint?

Your fingers are not on the trackpoint when you type. The mouse pointer doesn't move when you use the keyboard.

Also, the three trackpoint buttons are right under your thumb - your hand literally doesn't have to move away from the keyboard. No touch screen necessary. That would be even worse having to move from keyboard to screen.

It really sounds like you've not used the trackpoint correctly.

But it's great that there are options and it seems you've found what works for you.

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#403

Post by Melatonic »

scrlk wrote: post #79
Markoff wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

proper thinkpads have strenghtened construction with metal inside and plastic in general is better comfort wise regarding how hot it can get compared to better heat conducting metal They are in no way flimsy, you will much easier damage internal components of nany Mac over Thinkpad T series. but yes, they won't win any beauty contest - if you want reliable workhorse which is relatively ugly go for Thinkpad T series,…

Re: "proper" ThinkPads - Lenovo has made a mess of the model line up and I don't think it's easy for the non-ThinkPad aficionado figure it out (e.g. T series being the entry point in to the classic magnesium alloy roll cage).

Yea this is true

I still love the old style keyboards - have they ever made a modern one with it? Last one (which I own and use still) that I know of is the T420

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#404

Post by zeropoint46 »

pooper wrote: post #137
halotrope wrote: post #110

Generally great machines for Linux. Just a PSA from a X1E gen2 owner: Do NOT get the NVidia GPU, do NOT get the fastest CPU and most importantly: do NOT opt for the 4k screen. With 1080p and Intel GPU it is a good, even great laptop with ok battery life (if you can look over the touchpad). Wonderful keyboard, good Linux support (even fingerprint reader works). But just as with the last Intel macbook, the GPU, 10th ge…

> Wonderful keyboard, good Linux support (even fingerprint reader works). I am on a T490s with Fedora now (this machine). Any tips on how you got the fingerprint sensor to work? $ cat /etc/os-release NAME="Fedora Linux" VERSION="35 (Workstation Edition)" ID=fedora VERSION_ID=35 VERSION_CODENAME="" PLATFORM_ID="platform:f35" PRETTY_NAME="Fedora Linux 35 (Workstation Edition)" ANSI_COLOR="0;38;2;60;110;180" LOGO=fedora…

on my carbon x1 I had to use fwupdmgr to update the Prometheus fingerprint device firmware. Additionally the firmware that was "current" in the repo didn't work and I had to allow using the beta or experimental version. can't remember exactly the steps I took to enable the beta firmware, this was almost 2 years ago as well, so it could be that that version is the now the correct latest version in the repo. after that I just installed fprintd and followed those instructions. But for sure it didn't work for me until I updated the firmware. good luck.

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#405

Post by filoleg »

Melatonic wrote: post #393
csdvrx wrote: post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> > and most importantly: do NOT opt for the 4k screen > Good advice for any laptop purchase. You will burn through battery driving that and the pixel density is much higher than necessary. Hard disagree. I use my thinkpads on AC most of the time, at home. The crisp fonts in a terminal is a game changer. That has spoiled me: the bare minimum I can work with now is 2k. Likewise for OLED: except the X1 nano which I use…

2K is only a few more pixels than 1920 x 1080 ? I find the sweet spot minimum for my 27" desktop monitors to be 1440P. Anything that and above looks great.

> 2K is only a few more pixels than 1920 x 1080 ?

Given you said you use 1440p monitors yourself, I think there is a misunderstanding somewhere here, because 2K is just a less commonly used term for 1440p. And 1440p is definitely a bit more than just "a few more pixels" compared to 1080p (iirc around 78% more).

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#406

Post by bhaak »

klazutin wrote: post #354
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've also switched from a MacBook to a T14 Gen 1 about a year ago and the TrackPoint is the one problem I struggle with on Linux. On Windows, it's buttery smooth and a joy to use. On Linux, the refresh rate tops out at 80 Hz, and if you so much as lightly touch the touchpad with your palm, it goes further down to ~45 Hz for the next few seconds. All of this makes for a very rough, jerky and imprecise movement. I real…

I don't use the trackpad at all so I don't have that problem. :)

You could try playing around with the settings in /sys/devices/platform/i8042/serio1/. The file "sensitivity" or "rate" might be what you're looking for.

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#407

Post by parasense »

We use this exact same laptop at Red Hat, and meh!

I like the laptop sometimes, but I've actually had plenty of times where it's more of a pain. For example, I run multiple 4k displays on my desktop, and using the Lenovo thunderbolt docking station with multiple 4k displays does not work. two 1440p displays are fine, but not two 4k UHD displays. Another issue Iv'e seen is the laptop simply reboots mysteriously, presumably due to thermal panics. I have to run chonky k8s cluster on my laptop requiring at minimum 20 giB memory, and like ~ most of the available CPU... and it gets hot, and reboots.

Fedora support is fabulous, and well you might expect that when you have the single largest open source corporation, not to mention Fedora's benefactor, using the laptop at scale.

I've personally switched to using an Intel NUC for the daily grind, but still use the laptop for travels and what not.

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#408

Post by bhaak »

deltarholamda wrote: post #315
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 like the Trackpoint, but beware. I used an old 760 years ago with OpenBSD, and after many months of using the Trackpoint, my pointer finger started to have RSI issues. (Similarly, I used a thumb trackball for a long time, and eventually my thumb started to have issues as well.) For occasional use, these things are great. Long term under heavy use, I have my doubts. It's always better to use the bigger muscles and j…

I've been using the Trackpoint for almost 20 years now and I never had any problems with it. Not exclusively though, for desktop applications I still use a mouse.

But for couch surfing at home I haven't used a mouse in years.

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#409

Post by linuxhansl »

Big fan of these with Linux.

Have used T42, T500, T440p, X1E gen2 throughout the years, all with versions of Fedora.

Most things just work.

The X1E gen2 needed a bit work to curb (idle) power consumption. The SD card reader would prevent the CPU package from entering C10, and the fans were always running even when the machine was not warm.

I have the version with the NVidia dedicated GPU, which works pretty well. It's off most of the time, and is only turned on when needed.

Idle power consumption is now as low of 3.9w.

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#410

Post by sudosysgen »

dhbsdfgv wrote: post #375
sudosysgen wrote: post #361

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Alienware M15 r5 Ryzen édition (amongst others) does support 64GB of RAM, but not ECC.

It also isn't an all-amd system, so your external displays and prime offloading all become way more awkward.

I have one - prime offloading works exactly the same as on Intel. As far as external displays it's very simple, when I plug one in it is owned 100% by the NVidia GPU. Which is not an issue because I have access to AC.
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