I believe IBM sold their laptop business to "Lenovo" nearly 20 years ago?Originally Posted by blackal
Correct - this is kind of double-edged. On the one hand Lenovos vast manufacturing experience has helped the Thinkpad line stay relevant and available, IBM spun it off to focus on B2B ventures only I believe. On the other hand, they have a spotty history in regards to quality (especially software) but I would recommend nuking the OS first thing on any machine purchase anyway.
For an extra charge they do, they offer 2 extra levels of optional cover. I bought an Ideapad5iPro 14" nearly ayear ago and am very pleased with it. Predominantly metal casing, which is nice.
After 30 years of using computers I will only ever carry a macbook pro as a laptop.
Its more rugged than a toughbook and just works, I've never been let down by a macbook pro , my previous one lasted 10 years and was given away to a friend as it still did 90% of what a casual user would need , x2 battery replacements from ifixit in that time I did myself ( even though you weren't supposed to be able to diy it).
I use windows , linux and macOS so the user environment isn't an issue but every non mac laptop I've owned has let me down usually at a critical time.
I literally refuse to carry anything else , I'd probably rather rely on my iphone than a non mac laptop.
I've had lots of Windows laptops for work over the years- the best of the bunch was a Lenovo Thinkpad. Current Dell Latitude is ok, but not up to the robustness/ performance of the Lenovo. I had a Surface Book for a while, and it was great for its size, really light and great performance. Bit flimsy, though.
For personal purposes, I have had a Macbook for the last 15 years. Solid, bulletproof, super performance, works well for a very long time.
They did, I was just meaning that I have stuck with them since the IBM days and they have more or less stuck to the same business sector of the market.
I made the mistake of trying a MacBook Pro in 2018. Top of the range, keyboard failed after a year. Sexy bit of kit, but the keyboard wasn’t even pleasant to use. Cost over £3k new, entire machine renewed from below the screen hinge - and I managed to get rid of the basically-new macbook for around £1800. Went back to what I should have bought in the first place - a Lenovo.
Rugged? Mine struggled to type ‘rugged’
I’ve got a current gen top spec macbook pro 16 . 64gb ram , highest cpu and gpu . I also have a 2 year old ryzen OC workstation with twin 3090s and 128gb ram .
I’ve stopped using the PC workstation . I do 4k compositing and 3d and editorial for feature films on it. The macbook is crazy fast about the only thing I use the workstation for is 4k QC because of the latger monitors but I could always plug the macbook in .
Its blisteringly quick .
Admittedly the 2018 macbooks were known for crap keyboards but at least apple offered a full replacement . The previous design and the current design don’t have that issue and the current gen also restores a lot of the i/o sockets the previous gen temoved in favour of dongles .
I’ve had my macbooks in jungles one week , arctic tundra the next , on boats , in deserts and rain sodden backpacks . I won’t carry any other laptop. Similarly I won’t have any other phone but an iphone . Over 10 years of reliability is enough proof for me.
Every PC laptop from dell , leonovo , samsung , fujitsu … all had problems within 3 months , dead pixels , dim backlights , usb sockets that stopped working , cracks on the cases , warping on the hinges , don’t start me on the touchpads .
Fantastic endorsement for Apple products that.
That said I think you have been extraordinarily unlucky with non apple laptops if you have had issues within 3 months with everything else!
That's obviously not the case for the millions, if not billions of users around the world happily bashing away on Dells/Acer's/Lenovos/HPs etc etc
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Nearly 4 years on this laptop is still working perfectly and my wife remains 100% happy with it!
It is indeed. But - we speak as we find, and often adopt the "once bit...................." stance.
I bought my first Thinkpad way back around 2000 (when the top ones were assembled in Greenock) - and have had several since. Never an issue, and they've been lugged all over the world, planes, helicopters, ships.
My 10yr old W520 Thinkpad is still going strong(ish) with slightly loose USB ports and a depleted capacity battery to complain about.
Once you go Mac you never go back!
Changed my personal laptop to an i5 MacBook Air and has been faultless.
New role at work required an Mac, and got the M1 & it is magnificent; especially the battery life that requires no charger for a day of work.
Wish my personal one was an M chip, they are amazing things.
The miracle workers who saved my laptop after I poured half a pint through it have announced that, this time, death means death. Another Lenovo will be coming (probably)
I had a laptop that made a loud whining noise for a few years, that was A Dell...
Cool story, dude............................
The repair shop have got a refurbished HP Elitebook of similar computer specs but with a more robust case* than the Lenovo I killed. Good enough price that I'm treating myself to a good Dell monitor as well.
*metal hinges were mentioned
We have seen a drop in Dell quality for their laptops, new ones DoA, Psu's not working properly, sound not working. The plus side is their warranty support is awesome (and for us next day) and we never have an issue getting it resolved by an engineer, most of which have required a motherboard replacement!
No experience of other brands warranty support though.
I worked at Dell for many years and have a good understanding of the laptop mkt. Many previously have stated the Stinkpad is the best, I would agree. I buy 2-3 year old ex corporate machines off of fleabay for my personal use. They are dotted around the house and generally nothing has failed. They are the best built, though things like batteries are wear items. HP are truly awful in my experience. The Acers in PCW look good, but I have limited experience of them.
We run everything on linux and I use a microtech laptop, a sort of mid level model, about 300euros worth, abs cased with 500gb ssd and 8gb ram, it's fine for our office use and some graphic design. Don't do much else with computers nowadays...
I use Mega for cloud backup storage, very nice and smooth.
I dunno... my dad has a macbook pro and it's really nice, were it not for him using microsoft bloatware and overloading it with apps that keep running all the time and stuff. He's not very techy, has the machines do everything.
I keep things lean and simple.
Yeah, whatever
...
BUBI
@porque.racing
Which range of Thinkpads do you suggest to look at? I'm looking into getting a T series from ebay but I'd really like a 16" 16:10 screen. I have a T440p I bought from SC as a backup laptop & I'm impressed by how solid it is & how easy to upgrade. I've added 16Gb of RAM & an SSD & now I'm looking for a new screen.
I never bought the bigger ones. But the T series is the one to go for. I always go for the 14" models. The T4XXs models are not as well made as the non s models as they are built for weight saving. Depending on your budget it T470 or above.
Yes it does - I run a T460 (oldie) and have just bought an E15 Gen4 on site warrany 164£ from recall for 24 months.
Prior to these I had thinkpads; many thinkpads - so many that I now cant even remember beyond the R50......
Customer service good and built to a military spec for robust computing.
Last edited by Brian; 18th May 2023 at 09:33.
The Macbook is undoutedly super stable and dependable. I have used them for 6 years as my employers have standardised on them. All of my home machines are Lenovo Windows boxes. The windows boxes have got better but very occaisionally have problems. Where Windows destroys Mac is usability and window management. Mac is crap, but they won't just copy Windows as that would recognise somebody elses superiority. If you could have a task bar and app switching like Windows without third party tooling, Mac would be utopia for me.
I don't know why I wrote HP, I meant Bang and Offalson. A little heavier bit a lot sturdier, very happy
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