ThinkPad X1 Carbon • Hacker News Board

Re: ThinkPad X1 Carbon

#61

Post by kybernetikos » Fri, Dec 30, 2016, 8:02 PM UTC

stuckagain wrote: post #10

reustle wrote: post #5

As someone who is constantly on the road, having a built in sim card for connectivity is something I'm super excited about. This could be the 2016 MBP we wanted, but switching to windows still sounds difficult.

Why do you find that better than tethering to a phone? The last thing I want is a separate mobile account for my laptop.

Phone tethering tends to eat through the battery, also, there's just a difference in how you use it and how it feels.

On the one hand you've got a laptop that is online the whole time, on the other hand you've got a situation where you have to have to fiddle with two devices to get online.

Moving onlineness from a deliberate, modal thing to a continuous thing changes the way you interact with the network.

Re: ThinkPad X1 Carbon

#62

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Dec 30, 2016, 8:03 PM UTC

tbrock wrote: post #29

Roritharr wrote: post #20

Only 16GB, no Quad-Core option (i'd take an underclocked one at this point :( )... i need more threads and ram on the go, why is that not an option outside of the alienware 13 monstrosity?

You must be trolling. Look at the size of it. The thermals for the quad core chip don't make sense and they can very likely only fit 16gb of ram. The T series is what you are looking for. Try find any laptop of that size with 32gb ram and quad core option. It doesn't exist.

[deleted]

Re: ThinkPad X1 Carbon

#63

Post by lobster_johnson » Fri, Dec 30, 2016, 8:03 PM UTC

stuckagain wrote: post #10

reustle wrote: post #5

As someone who is constantly on the road, having a built in sim card for connectivity is something I'm super excited about. This could be the 2016 MBP we wanted, but switching to windows still sounds difficult.

Why do you find that better than tethering to a phone? The last thing I want is a separate mobile account for my laptop.

Not the parent, but for me, a reason would be to have a dedicated, company-paid data-only subscription. I work from coffee shops a lot, and my personal T-Mobile subscription doesn't have enough data. Right now I'm considering getting an external Verizon "JetPack" for this, but it's another little device to pack and charge.

Re: ThinkPad X1 Carbon

#64

Post by mactunes » Fri, Dec 30, 2016, 8:05 PM UTC

Waterluvian wrote: post #22

I want to be excited by a good non-Apple laptop. But they're all just so terribly designed. They're always some sort of plastic, feel flimsy and bendy, have grills and screw holes and uneven surfaces and stickers everywhere. I had a T530 for a few years at my first job and just hated it. It had fantastic specs but it felt awful and unreliable and like I had to babysit it. I got a 2015 MBP to replace it after IT damag…

I just recently bought a ASUS ZenBook UX360UAK with a 7th gen i7, 16GB RAM and a 512GB SSD.

It's made out of aluminium, has a glass touchpad and costs around half of what a similarly priced MacBook pro costs in Germany.

It's my first non-Mac after 20 years. I've owned it for a good week and so far I'm very happy. It has superb battery life, great build quality and is fast. Only 1 minor con: the fan always runs, but it's not too loud and I can live with it...

Re: ThinkPad X1 Carbon

#65

Post by untog » Fri, Dec 30, 2016, 8:06 PM UTC

Waterluvian wrote: post #40

petilon wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In terms of industrial design, Samsung's ultrabooks are excellent, in my opinion: http://www.samsung.com/us/computing/windows-laptops/12-14/no...

All 3 laptops suggested to me in this thread have foldy complicated hinges. What's the deal with that?

They're intended to be folded over to be used in a "tablet" mode, or propped up in "tent" mode. All based around the touch screen, basically.

Re: ThinkPad X1 Carbon

#66

Post by bpye » Fri, Dec 30, 2016, 8:06 PM UTC

lobster_johnson wrote: post #56

As someone who is considering moving from a MacBook Pro 2015 to a Linux laptop, the keyboard and, in particular, the trackpad on PC models are the biggest disappointments. Apple has spent so much effort on the tactility of their laptops, while PC manufacturers still seem to be stuck in an earlier decade. I was a little bit shocked to discover that Thinkpads still have that terrible little mouse nipple, which I hadn't…

The Surface Pro 4 type cover, and I'd assume the Surface Book, both have a comparable keyboard and I'd say the trackpad is definitely as good as the Macbooks I've used or better (haven't used the latest of any model, but some older Pros and Airs)

Re: ThinkPad X1 Carbon

#67

Post by Nition » Fri, Dec 30, 2016, 8:06 PM UTC

Waterluvian wrote: post #22

I want to be excited by a good non-Apple laptop. But they're all just so terribly designed. They're always some sort of plastic, feel flimsy and bendy, have grills and screw holes and uneven surfaces and stickers everywhere. I had a T530 for a few years at my first job and just hated it. It had fantastic specs but it felt awful and unreliable and like I had to babysit it. I got a 2015 MBP to replace it after IT damag…

The lack of fans and vents on the bottom of MacBooks Pros is seriously a huge benefit. I can actually use it ON MY LAP!

Re: ThinkPad X1 Carbon

#68

Post by yuhong » Fri, Dec 30, 2016, 8:06 PM UTC

nfoz wrote: post #19

They didn't fully learn the lesson of the Superfish fiasco: "X1 Carbon is available with Microsoft Windows 10 Pro Signature Edition. No more trialware or unwanted apps. No more distractions—and easy provisioning for IT pros." So do that with every version, and stop feeding people "unwanted apps" altogether. You just admitted that nobody wants them, and this irresponsible attitude is exactly why you got bopped for pre…

Ah, "consumer" vs "business" computers. I wonder whether this distinction even makes sense.

Re: ThinkPad X1 Carbon

#69

Post by brudgers » Fri, Dec 30, 2016, 8:06 PM UTC

mverwijs wrote: post #11

gtaylor wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These supposedly run Linux very well, as another option.

As a Linux user in the market for a new laptop: citation needed?

In general:

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Category:X1_Carbon_(3rd_Gen)

Ubuntu in particular:

https://certification.ubuntu.com/certification/make/Lenovo/?...

When I was shopping for a laptop recently, I was told that to order one with Ubuntu pre-installed I needed to call sales during business hours. Ultimately, I went with a Dell Precision T7510, left Windows 10 in place, added an NVME ssd, and installed Ubuntu on that (Dell Precisions also offer Ubuntu pre-installed and at a discount).

Re: ThinkPad X1 Carbon

#70

Post by rcarmo » Fri, Dec 30, 2016, 8:06 PM UTC

stuckagain wrote: post #10

reustle wrote: post #5

As someone who is constantly on the road, having a built in sim card for connectivity is something I'm super excited about. This could be the 2016 MBP we wanted, but switching to windows still sounds difficult.

Why do you find that better than tethering to a phone? The last thing I want is a separate mobile account for my laptop.

Agreed. I am constantly out and about and much prefer carrying a Wi-Fi hotspot or a secondary phone, for the following reasons:

- I can upgrade the hotspot/phone separately (right now I'm at 150Mbps LTE, which is very nice, and I started doing this in 1998 with the Ericsson SH-888... a few orders of magnitude slower)

- I can place the hotspot/phone away from me (typically near a window), and get excellent mobile signal regardless of where I have to sit

- I can share the bandwidth among multiple devices

Having spent over fifteen years at telcos and mobile operators, I can assure you that this is the sanest option both due to mobile hardware deprecation (you will _never_ be able to upgrade embedded 3G/4G/LTE in the same way), performance (embedded designs are a lot more trouble to get right) and, yes, price gouging from telcos.

Even before leaving the sector, I never saw SIM slots as an advantage in laptops -- they're just a way to charge you more for an effectively worse mobile experience.