5 ms·

Yes, and while Thinkpad is excellent, it's not really a 'cool' option. The Surface Book's design (and price point) places it solidly as a competitor to Macs.

by huac 11y ago

gcb0 11y ago
i'd take the rubber coated ones over the cold and sharp metal ones you call 'cool' any time. but i guess everyone in SF just use macbooks on their desks at all times.
- flamedoge 11y ago
  thinkpad just feels like a solid, workhorse.
- freehunter 11y ago
  As a traveling consultant, the durability of the Thinkpad design is nice, but holy hell does it suck to carry through an airport, or to shove under the seat in front of you. I've had to switch to a backpack for my laptop, since a normal bag puts too much weight on one side of my body. A backpack is so much less professional than a laptop bag. And then I drop it from a table onto a cement floor and the body cracks and the lid won't close anymore. So why do I put up with a laptop that's 50% heavier than a Macbook yet still breaks when I drop it from a table? Or maybe Thinkpads are supposed to be used on desks at all times.
  - dreamfactory2 11y ago
    > A backpack is so much less professional than a laptop bag I wouldn't worry too much about that, backpacks are standard issue for big 5 consultants
  - phaus 11y ago
    It doesn't sound like you are making fair comparisons between Thinkpads and Macbooks. My 15" T550 is just .2 lbs heavier than a 15" Macbook Pro. The charger for my T550 is much lighter than the one I have for my Macbook Pro, so the overall weight might actually favor the Thinkpad. The 13" business-class ultrabooks that Lenovo sells are pretty close in weight to the 13" Macbook Pro and the Macbook Air. It sounds like you are basing your opinion off of an old system or a current model that isn't even in the same class as a Macbook.
    - freehunter 11y ago
      Thinkpad W520. Core i7, like a Macbook. 16GB of RAM, like a Macbook. Spinning hard drive, worse than a Macbook. Has a desktop video card that is required in order to use video out, but you have to reboot and enable the video card, then it won't sleep until you reboot and disable the card... unlike a Macbook. Because Nvidia won't make Linux drivers for Optimus. No, it's not in the same class as a Macbook, that's half my point. It doesn't do anything a Macbook won't do, and it's less than a year old. It has all the downsides of being a Thinkpad with none of the upsides of... being a Thinkpad. Modern Thinkpads are not as durable or reliable as people make them out to be. My company is switching everyone from Thinkpads to Macbooks, and this is a company that was built on Thinkpads. That's how awful modern Thinkpads are compared to basically anything else.
      - andor 11y ago
        The W520 is a workstation-class model from 2011. If you don't need the dedicated graphics for something like CAD, it's probably not the right laptop for you.
      - munchbunny 11y ago
        I'm a bit curious why a traveling consultant is outfitted with what is marketed as a "workstation in a laptop form factor". Seems like a mismatch of use case to product. I travel a lot, sometimes for work, sometimes for leisure, so when I chose my personal computer I went with a Thinkpad X230. Fast enough to compile C++ code for my game programming hobby, fast enough to do my excel stuff for work, and the integrated graphics card can drive two external 1920x1200 screens comfortably. Just don't expect to play any graphically intensive games. With the help of a spare battery I kept around I could get 12-14 hours out of it if, for example, I were flying to Asia. My point being, perhaps your experience had more to do with being given a computer that definitely did not fit your work/life style? Though I'd agree with you that the W520 was not well designed.
        freehunter 11y ago
        I didn't have a choice, this is what all of my coworkers have as well. Some of them found it so hard to work with that they used their own money to buy a Macbook then gave it to the company so they could use it for their job. My last job, I had a Thinkpad T520, which was just as thick but a bit lighter and smaller footprint. At home I have a T420, again same thickness but slightly smaller footprint yet. I'm no stranger to Thinkpads. I hope I don't ever have to use another. Even IBM is disillusioned by the Thinkpads. They created the damn thing and they're abandoning it for Macbooks: http://www.theverge.com/2015/8/5/9099451/ibm-apple-enterprise-macbooks http://www.theverge.com/2015/8/5/9099451/ibm-apple-enterpris...
scholia 11y ago
There is still a class of business users for whom the ThinkPad is cool (though I expect most of them regret the brand's decline in Lenovo's hands).
criddell 11y ago
My last three laptops have been Thinkpads, but Lenovo seems determined to destroy that brand as well. Microsoft may be the only company selling hardware that is trustworthy.
MichaelGG 11y ago
I can only hope that this compels Lenovo to ship a non-16:9, with a great screen, hi-res at low-size with 16GB of RAM. (I've found it hard to find vendors carrying 16GB SODIMMs for the X250.) I wonder what the heat scenario will be like with the Surface Book. If it turns hot like a MacBook, that'll set yet another disappointing precedent. Finally though, it's nice to see MS doing what people have been asking for years.
- bluecalm 11y ago
  Yeah, 16:9 is disappointing especially with huge bottom bezel on x250, I mean 16:10 would easily fit there.

Yes, and while Thinkpad is excellent, it's not really a 'cool' option. The Surface Book's design (and price point) places it solidly as a competitor to Macs.

by huac 11y ago

Yes, and while Thinkpad is excellent, it's not really a 'cool' option. The Surface Book's design (and price point) places it solidly as a competitor to Macs.

gcb0 11y ago

i'd take the rubber coated ones over the cold and sharp metal ones you call 'cool' any time. but i guess everyone in SF just use macbooks on their desks at all times.

flamedoge 11y ago
thinkpad just feels like a solid, workhorse.
freehunter 11y ago
As a traveling consultant, the durability of the Thinkpad design is nice, but holy hell does it suck to carry through an airport, or to shove under the seat in front of you. I've had to switch to a backpack for my laptop, since a normal bag puts too much weight on one side of my body. A backpack is so much less professional than a laptop bag. And then I drop it from a table onto a cement floor and the body cracks and the lid won't close anymore. So why do I put up with a laptop that's 50% heavier than a Macbook yet still breaks when I drop it from a table? Or maybe Thinkpads are supposed to be used on desks at all times.
- dreamfactory2 11y ago
  > A backpack is so much less professional than a laptop bag I wouldn't worry too much about that, backpacks are standard issue for big 5 consultants
- phaus 11y ago
  It doesn't sound like you are making fair comparisons between Thinkpads and Macbooks. My 15" T550 is just .2 lbs heavier than a 15" Macbook Pro. The charger for my T550 is much lighter than the one I have for my Macbook Pro, so the overall weight might actually favor the Thinkpad. The 13" business-class ultrabooks that Lenovo sells are pretty close in weight to the 13" Macbook Pro and the Macbook Air. It sounds like you are basing your opinion off of an old system or a current model that isn't even in the same class as a Macbook.
  - freehunter 11y ago
    Thinkpad W520. Core i7, like a Macbook. 16GB of RAM, like a Macbook. Spinning hard drive, worse than a Macbook. Has a desktop video card that is required in order to use video out, but you have to reboot and enable the video card, then it won't sleep until you reboot and disable the card... unlike a Macbook. Because Nvidia won't make Linux drivers for Optimus. No, it's not in the same class as a Macbook, that's half my point. It doesn't do anything a Macbook won't do, and it's less than a year old. It has all the downsides of being a Thinkpad with none of the upsides of... being a Thinkpad. Modern Thinkpads are not as durable or reliable as people make them out to be. My company is switching everyone from Thinkpads to Macbooks, and this is a company that was built on Thinkpads. That's how awful modern Thinkpads are compared to basically anything else.
    - andor 11y ago
      The W520 is a workstation-class model from 2011. If you don't need the dedicated graphics for something like CAD, it's probably not the right laptop for you.
    - munchbunny 11y ago
      I'm a bit curious why a traveling consultant is outfitted with what is marketed as a "workstation in a laptop form factor". Seems like a mismatch of use case to product. I travel a lot, sometimes for work, sometimes for leisure, so when I chose my personal computer I went with a Thinkpad X230. Fast enough to compile C++ code for my game programming hobby, fast enough to do my excel stuff for work, and the integrated graphics card can drive two external 1920x1200 screens comfortably. Just don't expect to play any graphically intensive games. With the help of a spare battery I kept around I could get 12-14 hours out of it if, for example, I were flying to Asia. My point being, perhaps your experience had more to do with being given a computer that definitely did not fit your work/life style? Though I'd agree with you that the W520 was not well designed.
      - freehunter 11y ago
        I didn't have a choice, this is what all of my coworkers have as well. Some of them found it so hard to work with that they used their own money to buy a Macbook then gave it to the company so they could use it for their job. My last job, I had a Thinkpad T520, which was just as thick but a bit lighter and smaller footprint. At home I have a T420, again same thickness but slightly smaller footprint yet. I'm no stranger to Thinkpads. I hope I don't ever have to use another. Even IBM is disillusioned by the Thinkpads. They created the damn thing and they're abandoning it for Macbooks: http://www.theverge.com/2015/8/5/9099451/ibm-apple-enterprise-macbooks http://www.theverge.com/2015/8/5/9099451/ibm-apple-enterpris...

scholia 11y ago

There is still a class of business users for whom the ThinkPad is cool (though I expect most of them regret the brand's decline in Lenovo's hands).

criddell 11y ago

My last three laptops have been Thinkpads, but Lenovo seems determined to destroy that brand as well. Microsoft may be the only company selling hardware that is trustworthy.

MichaelGG 11y ago

I can only hope that this compels Lenovo to ship a non-16:9, with a great screen, hi-res at low-size with 16GB of RAM. (I've found it hard to find vendors carrying 16GB SODIMMs for the X250.) I wonder what the heat scenario will be like with the Surface Book. If it turns hot like a MacBook, that'll set yet another disappointing precedent. Finally though, it's nice to see MS doing what people have been asking for years.

bluecalm 11y ago
Yeah, 16:9 is disappointing especially with huge bottom bezel on x250, I mean 16:10 would easily fit there.