5 ms·

Mmm... I wonder if they improved repairability because they expect things to keep breaking...

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
pmlnr 8y ago
There's no need to expect that - things keep breaking when they are used. Repairability is becoming a topic, though spreading quite slow, but eventually it will reach the higher ups, and we'll finally get our oldschool thinkpads back. (Hope is a strong emotion.)
- nkkollaw 8y ago
  My MacBook Air's keyboard never broke (I've had 2, kept them for 2-3 years each.
  - pmlnr 8y ago
    > 2-3 years each That's not a very long time. Business laptops' extended warranty is 5, and to be honest, 5-6 years old laptops - actually, nearly anything since modern sleep and aes-ni - are perfectly enough, so instead of buying new, it really should be possible to fix a hinge, a display, a keyboard once in a while, instead of needing to buy a new machine.
  - cyphar 8y ago
    2-3 years is a ridiculously short lifespan for a laptop. If one of my laptops failed that quickly I would demand the manufacturer provide me with a replacement under Australian Consumer Law. I've used 8-10 year old ThinkPads that worked fine (battery life was the only issue, but a new battery is not that expensive -- since you can replace those on older ThinkPads).
    - zaroth 8y ago
      Still happily using my 2011 Air. The battery was very easy to replace (5 minutes). The only thing that’s failed is the charging cable frayed and I got a replacement DC side cable with MagSafe connector for like $9 on Amazon. The only thing holding it back is I could not for the life of me get Boot Camp working with Win10 — UEFI nonsense. The new Air is finally actually tempting me to upgrade. Before that there was nothing I thought was worth considering.
      - wlesieutre 8y ago
        FYI Micro Center has a $200 discount on some new Airs right now if you have one in your area.
    - SyneRyder 8y ago
      > I would demand the manufacturer provide me with a replacement under Australian Consumer Law. Funny you mention that - my MacBook Pro was repeatedly serviced during my 3 year AppleCare period, and I noticed that instead of my warranty status showing AppleCare on the statements, after the first couple of services that status had changed to "Australian Consumer Law Requirement". They still didn't provide me with a replacement machine though - they just keep replacing the SATA flex cable every few months. I'm switching to a ThinkPad now.
- shasheene 8y ago
  I don't understand why there was no standardization effort equivalent to ATX for the classic IBM ThinkPad-era designs. A standardized form-factor allows easy replacement of motherboard, CPUs, screens, keyboards. Desktop PCs still use ATX cases, ATX power supplies, ATX motherboards. Desktop PCs can be upgraded while keeping the monitor, keyboard and mouse: the entirety of a high-end gaming PC upgrade can consists of a new motherboard, CPU, RAM and GPU. There's little reason laptops couldn't have went down the standardization path in the late 1990s. The chassis of a 1998 IBM ThinkPad should be able to components from 2019 without much effort. Just like an ATX desktop case.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

There's no need to expect that - things keep breaking when they are used. Repairability is becoming a topic, though spreading quite slow, but eventually it will reach the higher ups, and we'll finally get our oldschool thinkpads back. (Hope is a strong emotion.)

nkkollaw 8y ago
My MacBook Air's keyboard never broke (I've had 2, kept them for 2-3 years each.
- pmlnr 8y ago
  > 2-3 years each That's not a very long time. Business laptops' extended warranty is 5, and to be honest, 5-6 years old laptops - actually, nearly anything since modern sleep and aes-ni - are perfectly enough, so instead of buying new, it really should be possible to fix a hinge, a display, a keyboard once in a while, instead of needing to buy a new machine.
- cyphar 8y ago
  2-3 years is a ridiculously short lifespan for a laptop. If one of my laptops failed that quickly I would demand the manufacturer provide me with a replacement under Australian Consumer Law. I've used 8-10 year old ThinkPads that worked fine (battery life was the only issue, but a new battery is not that expensive -- since you can replace those on older ThinkPads).
  - zaroth 8y ago
    Still happily using my 2011 Air. The battery was very easy to replace (5 minutes). The only thing that’s failed is the charging cable frayed and I got a replacement DC side cable with MagSafe connector for like $9 on Amazon. The only thing holding it back is I could not for the life of me get Boot Camp working with Win10 — UEFI nonsense. The new Air is finally actually tempting me to upgrade. Before that there was nothing I thought was worth considering.
    - wlesieutre 8y ago
      FYI Micro Center has a $200 discount on some new Airs right now if you have one in your area.
  - SyneRyder 8y ago
    > I would demand the manufacturer provide me with a replacement under Australian Consumer Law. Funny you mention that - my MacBook Pro was repeatedly serviced during my 3 year AppleCare period, and I noticed that instead of my warranty status showing AppleCare on the statements, after the first couple of services that status had changed to "Australian Consumer Law Requirement". They still didn't provide me with a replacement machine though - they just keep replacing the SATA flex cable every few months. I'm switching to a ThinkPad now.
shasheene 8y ago
I don't understand why there was no standardization effort equivalent to ATX for the classic IBM ThinkPad-era designs. A standardized form-factor allows easy replacement of motherboard, CPUs, screens, keyboards. Desktop PCs still use ATX cases, ATX power supplies, ATX motherboards. Desktop PCs can be upgraded while keeping the monitor, keyboard and mouse: the entirety of a high-end gaming PC upgrade can consists of a new motherboard, CPU, RAM and GPU. There's little reason laptops couldn't have went down the standardization path in the late 1990s. The chassis of a 1998 IBM ThinkPad should be able to components from 2019 without much effort. Just like an ATX desktop case.