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Why Lenovo Is the Best Laptop Brand and Apple Fell Off a Cliff

20 points by kimsk112 9y ago

stuaxo 9y ago
How did they fuck up the 720s so badly ? OK, I'm just bitter at waiting for a decent ryzen laptop for 6 months and that not being it.
craftyguy 9y ago
Has the quality of Lenovo laptops really improved that much, or perhaps the quality of the competition has degraded so much that Lenovo is now king of the hill (according to the author)? Thinkpads were great under IBM, but deteriorated in quality quite a bit once Lenovo spun off.. Granted it has been 3 years since I've used one that was new (and it was crap), I've not heard of their quality improving that much since then.
- blackbagboys 9y ago
  Which series are you using? I have nothing but positive things to say about the T-series. I think the E-series is just a garden variety commodity laptop with the ThinkPad branding, though.
nolroz 9y ago
I completely wrote Lenovo off after the malware fiasco. Did they quit that nonsense?
- mistahchris 9y ago
  This. Their hardware is great, from my point of view. But the bios or hardware backdoor fiasco is unforgivable.
karmakaze 9y ago
Even at 24" 16x10 is noticeably better than 16x9, and at 15" or smaller makes all the difference.
m_mueller 9y ago
how are their trackpads nowadays? I take it Lenovo’s screens are now at least on par with MBP, not just in resolution but color reproduction, contrast, viewing angle, brightness? how about their hinges - still good like in the IBM thinkpad days? serviceability? this article is unfortunately very light on information and seems to be written by a thinkpad fanboy (highlighting the knob which I always found strange - why would you want that over a thumb on a very precise touchpad?).
- jpalomaki 9y ago
  I don't think it's so easy to get Thinkpad with stunning screen. X1 models have had more options, but it feels the other lineup is built with corporate bean counter in mind. There are nice things in some models like 32GB mem, dual swappable battery, built in LTE and warranty with on-site repairs. On the other hand there's no direct replacement for 15" MacBook Pro. No such slim machine with more powerful CPU and 15" great screen.
  - habitue 9y ago
    The X1 Yoga is what you're looking for. Has a 4K OLED touchscreen that looks amazing
    - m_mueller 9y ago
      Again, how about touchpad? On par with Surface Book? In that case I could live with it I think. But only on Linux, the Windows 10 settings mess still gives me headaches.
    - jpalomaki 9y ago
      There are nice features in the various Thinkpad laptops, problem is that you would need to get few machines to have them all. For example T480 gives you dual battery and 32GB. The X1 lineup gives the nice screens. Head to the P series and you get powerful CPU. I can understand that it's not possible to put all those in a slim machine such as X1, but I don't see technical reasons why you could not have high-end screens for example in the T4x0(p) or T5x0 machines. Lenovo is missing a proper MacBook Pro 15" replacement. For example Dell is at least trying with XPS 15 (i9, probably 32GB max etc). Lenovo has not yet introduced their i9 machines. There's some rumors about new P model coming out. Hopefully this is something similar and not just a new revision of their workstation class laptops.
satyajeet23 9y ago
I completely disagree with this 'Op-Ed'! I've recently used 3 of the latest ThinkPads, including X1 Carbon for 1 month - alongside my primary machine i.e MacBook - and I don't think there is ANY comparison between the two in any way! Yes, If MacBook did not existed and I had to buy one, I'd probably may be buy X1. It is good in that sense, better than many others.
- starchild_3001 9y ago
  Thanks for chiming in!
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
Zanni 9y ago
I was a hardcore Windows user for nearly 20 years (all the way back to Windows/386), but Mac laptops are the best I've ever used, period. I don't need "innovation" or a design refresh as long as they continue to just work. Which they do. I've got a 12" Macbook now, and while it's not perfect, it's faster than my 13" Air, with a better screen, more storage, and it's a full pound lighter. All in all, I love it. (I'd prefer a smidge more key travel, the full-size left and right arrow keys break the tactile usefulness of the inverted-T, and why oh why does it not support Thunderbolt 2?)
apricot 9y ago
Seriously? They are recommending the company known for repeatedly including hidden, malicious software on their computers?

20 points by kimsk112 9y ago

How did they fuck up the 720s so badly ? OK, I'm just bitter at waiting for a decent ryzen laptop for 6 months and that not being it.

craftyguy 9y ago

Has the quality of Lenovo laptops really improved that much, or perhaps the quality of the competition has degraded so much that Lenovo is now king of the hill (according to the author)? Thinkpads were great under IBM, but deteriorated in quality quite a bit once Lenovo spun off.. Granted it has been 3 years since I've used one that was new (and it was crap), I've not heard of their quality improving that much since then.

blackbagboys 9y ago
Which series are you using? I have nothing but positive things to say about the T-series. I think the E-series is just a garden variety commodity laptop with the ThinkPad branding, though.

nolroz 9y ago

I completely wrote Lenovo off after the malware fiasco. Did they quit that nonsense?

mistahchris 9y ago
This. Their hardware is great, from my point of view. But the bios or hardware backdoor fiasco is unforgivable.

karmakaze 9y ago

Even at 24" 16x10 is noticeably better than 16x9, and at 15" or smaller makes all the difference.

m_mueller 9y ago

how are their trackpads nowadays? I take it Lenovo’s screens are now at least on par with MBP, not just in resolution but color reproduction, contrast, viewing angle, brightness? how about their hinges - still good like in the IBM thinkpad days? serviceability? this article is unfortunately very light on information and seems to be written by a thinkpad fanboy (highlighting the knob which I always found strange - why would you want that over a thumb on a very precise touchpad?).

jpalomaki 9y ago
I don't think it's so easy to get Thinkpad with stunning screen. X1 models have had more options, but it feels the other lineup is built with corporate bean counter in mind. There are nice things in some models like 32GB mem, dual swappable battery, built in LTE and warranty with on-site repairs. On the other hand there's no direct replacement for 15" MacBook Pro. No such slim machine with more powerful CPU and 15" great screen.
- habitue 9y ago
  The X1 Yoga is what you're looking for. Has a 4K OLED touchscreen that looks amazing
  - m_mueller 9y ago
    Again, how about touchpad? On par with Surface Book? In that case I could live with it I think. But only on Linux, the Windows 10 settings mess still gives me headaches.
  - jpalomaki 9y ago
    There are nice features in the various Thinkpad laptops, problem is that you would need to get few machines to have them all. For example T480 gives you dual battery and 32GB. The X1 lineup gives the nice screens. Head to the P series and you get powerful CPU. I can understand that it's not possible to put all those in a slim machine such as X1, but I don't see technical reasons why you could not have high-end screens for example in the T4x0(p) or T5x0 machines. Lenovo is missing a proper MacBook Pro 15" replacement. For example Dell is at least trying with XPS 15 (i9, probably 32GB max etc). Lenovo has not yet introduced their i9 machines. There's some rumors about new P model coming out. Hopefully this is something similar and not just a new revision of their workstation class laptops.

satyajeet23 9y ago

I completely disagree with this 'Op-Ed'! I've recently used 3 of the latest ThinkPads, including X1 Carbon for 1 month - alongside my primary machine i.e MacBook - and I don't think there is ANY comparison between the two in any way! Yes, If MacBook did not existed and I had to buy one, I'd probably may be buy X1. It is good in that sense, better than many others.

starchild_3001 9y ago
Thanks for chiming in!

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

Zanni 9y ago

I was a hardcore Windows user for nearly 20 years (all the way back to Windows/386), but Mac laptops are the best I've ever used, period. I don't need "innovation" or a design refresh as long as they continue to just work. Which they do. I've got a 12" Macbook now, and while it's not perfect, it's faster than my 13" Air, with a better screen, more storage, and it's a full pound lighter. All in all, I love it. (I'd prefer a smidge more key travel, the full-size left and right arrow keys break the tactile usefulness of the inverted-T, and why oh why does it not support Thunderbolt 2?)

apricot 9y ago

Seriously? They are recommending the company known for repeatedly including hidden, malicious software on their computers?