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Lenovo’s IdeaPad Slim 7 is a showcase for AMD’s exceptional new processor

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Re: Lenovo’s IdeaPad Slim 7 is a showcase for AMD’s exceptional new processor

#61

Post by chrismorgan »

silon42 wrote: post #29
formerly_proven wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For desktop use 120 vs 60 Hz is noticeable on Windows (obviously very noticeable on the mouse cursor, but that doesn't change the UX much), but because DWM has basically optimal latency as far as dragging windows around goes, it's not that big of a difference. On Linux it's a pretty huge difference since Linux compositors aren't as good as DWM. Basically, Linux with 120 Hz feels like Windows on 60 Hz.

First thing I usually switch off on Linux is the compositor. It's not that bad typically (you notice latency only if you look for it), but why add unnecessary latency...

I loved wobbly windows in Ubuntu a decade ago, on my first laptop. Switched to i3 in Arch Linux with no compositor on my second laptop. I think wobbly windows was the only thing I missed from Compiz.

Re: Lenovo’s IdeaPad Slim 7 is a showcase for AMD’s exceptional new processor

#62

Post by chrismorgan »

solarkraft wrote: post #55
mroche wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a tad ironic (to me) because unless you max out the scaling of the display, none of the MacBook displays have an effective resolution >= 1920x1080. Apple has been defaulting to a fractional scaling the past few years rather than true Retina which is 200% scaling, but even then it falls short[0]. However, 200% scaling is crisp and I can appreciate it. I just don't like losing all that real estate. And the fractio…

I use a '15 MBP with Windows for work and usually use it at 125-150%. Almost nothing looks blurry. I can't imagine it being worse on macOS. At home I use a 4k 15" XPS with Linux on 1,7x scaling and nothing looks bad either. I assume app support is there for the former case and it's not for the latter, so I can pretty well recommend 4k screens at that size.

I’ve heard that macOS fractional scaling seriously is rendering at one size, and then upscaling or downscaling it to the target size. I’m not certain this is true because I haven’t confirmed it myself and it seems such an obviously stupid idea (and though it’s certainly easier, no one else does it that way because it’s such a terrible idea), but I’ve heard people saying this at least three times (twice on the internet, once in real life), about text not being crisp at fractional scaling. I dunno.

Re: Lenovo’s IdeaPad Slim 7 is a showcase for AMD’s exceptional new processor

#63

Post by foxdev »

notacoward wrote: post #12

I have one. The US version "only" has a 4800U, but it was still an absolute steal at US$800. It's a nice size, feels solid, and lasts all day easily . I've used it all day more than once and not seen the battery go below 50% yet. Then again, I haven't really pushed it that hard. I'm sure if I played some games it would "only" last five or six hours. And no, I haven't had any issues with the screen. In fact I turn it…

I wasn't entirely sure about the mere R5 4500U in the laptop I bought recently, but it tears through everything I throw at it. The only thing that stopped me from getting one of the higher-end R7s was that all the laptops with it and a screen with full sRGB coverage were persistently sold out, but I don't feel like what I got falls short with any of the tasks I put it to.

Whatever dark forces AMD aligned itself with for the latest chips was worth it.

Re: Lenovo’s IdeaPad Slim 7 is a showcase for AMD’s exceptional new processor

#64

Post by chrismorgan »

scohesc wrote: post #56
chrismorgan wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My last couple of laptops have had IPS panels. I intend never to buy a TN panel again. My last laptop was a 15″ 1920×1080, and my current is a 13″ 3000×2000 (and I love the aspect ratio). I intend never to buy a laptop with a 1920×1080 screen again. At some point I’m afraid I may end up with a ≥120fps screen and rarefy my tastes still further. (I hear good things about them, but have never seen an LCD with such a fra…

Remember when 99% of laptops priced around $800 or lower were automatically doomed with a 1024x768 screen - and to get a higher resolution you'd be paying at least 300-400 more? Yeeks.

Things were like that when I wanted to get my previous laptop in 2014 or so; you want 1366×768? Great! We have laptops from AU$400 onwards. You want 1920×1080? Here, enjoy our tiny range of AU$1,500+ laptops, all of which are heavy and power-hungry with dedicated graphics cards because you must want that, right? I mean, why else would you want a decent screen?

It’s not quite so strong these days with 1920×1080 or even with 4K panels, but the segmentation is still definitely real. The feature segmentation, things like pairing dedicated graphics with better screens (even when the screens could easily be driven by dedicated graphics), is particularly distressing, because they’re making you pay more for things that you either don’t care for or actively don’t want, just to get other things you do want.

Re: Lenovo’s IdeaPad Slim 7 is a showcase for AMD’s exceptional new processor

#65

Post by chrismorgan »

solarkraft wrote: post #43
chrismorgan wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My last couple of laptops have had IPS panels. I intend never to buy a TN panel again. My last laptop was a 15″ 1920×1080, and my current is a 13″ 3000×2000 (and I love the aspect ratio). I intend never to buy a laptop with a 1920×1080 screen again. At some point I’m afraid I may end up with a ≥120fps screen and rarefy my tastes still further. (I hear good things about them, but have never seen an LCD with such a fra…

> I intend never to buy a laptop with a 1920×1080 screen again Same here and WOW, it's frustrating. There are so many laptops that would be amazing if it wasn't for their screens. Paradoxically 17" models are almost all crap.

Ugh, also those times when >99% of 15″ models were 1366×768 or similar, while 11″ ultrabooks were happily shipping 1920×1080 or even higher. Fortunately that’s almost behind us now.

Re: Lenovo’s IdeaPad Slim 7 is a showcase for AMD’s exceptional new processor

#66

Post by q3k »

justaguyhere wrote: post #35
q3k wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very happy with my T14 (AMD) IPS 1920x1080 display. Some might dislike that it's not High DPI, but personally that's not a feature I want.

I understand it is good for programming. Can it handle video editing? I am trying to decide between T14 and P1, which is almost twice the price as T14. Any review will be helpful.

Do you need more performance benchmarks? Here's my experiences on Linux (NixOS).

I've done some light Blender work on it and it handled things just fine. Haven't tried GPU acceleration for Cycles, though.

If I bump up thermal limits to 95 degrees then it compiles things at similar speeds to my old i7-6700k machine, if not slightly faster. At stock 60 degrees it's still pretty damn fast, but aggressively throttles if you try to use all cores at once for more than a few seconds. At stock thermal limits it also never gets too uncomfortable to handle.

The GPU is good but not great. Satisfactory via Proton struggled (but got to 50FPS on low settings), older games like Portal 2 run great on ultra settings. amdgpu works pretty well, or at least not worse than amdgpu on my desktop.

Overall, it's a good replacement for my old workstation, can handle some non-trivial video/GPU workloads, and I recommend it. There's some things that need to be ironed out (ACPI S3 sleep is currently somewhat broken, but Lenovo is currently working on certifying this machine with Ubuntu, so that should fix things), but that's mostly because it's such a new CPU/Laptop.

Re: Lenovo’s IdeaPad Slim 7 is a showcase for AMD’s exceptional new processor

#67

Post by [deleted] »

post_break wrote: post #47
q3k wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very happy with my T14 (AMD) IPS 1920x1080 display. Some might dislike that it's not High DPI, but personally that's not a feature I want.

I want one, but lenovo still has a screen lottery with their 400 nit low power screen.

[deleted]

Re: Lenovo’s IdeaPad Slim 7 is a showcase for AMD’s exceptional new processor

#68

Post by pmontra »

chrismorgan wrote: post #21
formerly_proven wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you're staring at a 500nit screen at full brightness all day, you're probably not doing your eyes any good. I'm kinda surprised how many people set their screens to 100 % brightness (300-400 nits for most screens) on their desktop. I find that blinding and very uncomfortable. That also seems to be a reason why people complain so much about IPS bleed and glow; using the screen near full brightness in a dark room…

It’s hard to change the brightness of desktop monitors. Bafflingly, Windows and macOS don’t support adjusting their brightness the way they do for laptops, despite the existence of DDC/CI to do just that, so you’re left using third-party software if you know about it, or interacting with the awful OSD/buttons on the screen, which you’ll hardly want to do all the time. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24316728 is…

I remember when TV sets and monitors had dials to adjust brightness, contrast and volume. They became useless on TVs because remotes are better, but they'd still be very useful for monitors that stay all the time within reach of the user. Much better than menus.

Re: Lenovo’s IdeaPad Slim 7 is a showcase for AMD’s exceptional new processor

#69

Post by ahartmetz »

nobleach wrote: post #54
indymike wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After spending about six years with a Macbook with a retina display, going to even 1080p feels like a step back.

I have both a 15" MacBook Pro (2018 model) and a Lenovo Thinkpad Carbon X1 open in front of me right now. I have 20/20 vision and it really is not striking me as that much better. I spend quite a bit of my day in a terminal and the remainder looking at the web, so font rendering definitely matters. Even with Linux's abysmal font-rendering, the mac really doesn't feel like it has the edge.

> Linux's abysmal font-rendering

Wait, what? It's somewhere in the middle between Windows (too pixel-fitted) and macOS (too blurry). FreeType, slight hinting, LCD filtering on is the best font rendering that I know.

Re: Lenovo’s IdeaPad Slim 7 is a showcase for AMD’s exceptional new processor

#70

Post by nobleach »

ahartmetz wrote: post #69
nobleach wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have both a 15" MacBook Pro (2018 model) and a Lenovo Thinkpad Carbon X1 open in front of me right now. I have 20/20 vision and it really is not striking me as that much better. I spend quite a bit of my day in a terminal and the remainder looking at the web, so font rendering definitely matters. Even with Linux's abysmal font-rendering, the mac really doesn't feel like it has the edge.

> Linux's abysmal font-rendering Wait, what? It's somewhere in the middle between Windows (too pixel-fitted) and macOS (too blurry). FreeType, slight hinting, LCD filtering on is the best font rendering that I know.

And it jumps around to which version it's going to use. Which means that my terminal can suddenly look gorgeous, and Slack can look like hot garbage!
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