4 ms·

I'm all for frugality but that seems like a lot of compromises for what is this person's main work laptop. Cool that it works; but why have a slow workhorse lik

I'm all for frugality but that seems like a lot of compromises for what is this person's main work laptop. Cool that it works; but why have a slow workhorse like that? I picked up a Samsung Galaxybook a few weeks ago. Nice core i5 system on a chip thing with Iris XE gpu. Runs cool including when under load and it's fast enough. Driver support seems decent in Linux. Even the graphics are quite alright. I played some steam games with it even. Nothing recent though. The touchpad is a multitouch thing that sort of replicates what a decent macbook would be capable off (but with way less precision). The keyboard is alright and they even squeezed in a numeric pad. It has 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD. Decent battery life too. With Manjaro it's quite a nice work laptop. Not bad for 700 Euro. At that price (which was a black Friday discount), why bother patching up a ten year old laptop. Not worth the expenses on the parts IMHO.

zwaps 5y ago
For one thing (for me, at least): The keyboard. I have yet to see a good keyboard on a modern laptop, and I use a lot of different ones. Some people do not care, but I do. There's some keyboards that are "still decent", but all of them are progressively getting worse. Well, they say that Mac keyboards are getting better again, but I don't like their zero-keytravel style in the first place, not even in the ones that were considered good. Thinkpad T400 roundabout was a good keyboard in my view.
- Joeri 5y ago
  As an m1 macbook owner I would say the new mac keyboard is good for a low travel keyboard, but not good when compared to thinkpad keyboards, especially the older 1.8mm and up key travel keyboards. There is only so much you can do to compensate for a lack of key travel.
- justsomehnguy 5y ago
  > The keyboard But what about the keyboard /layout/? My rant at [0] To clarify it somewhat, currently I have a laptop with two Fn keys. I rarely use the right one, but it feels very organic when I do. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29807256 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29807256
  - zwaps 5y ago
    I know this was a big issue for Thinkpads throughout the years, but as much as I care about the feel of a keyboard, I have never cared about the layout. I guess we all have our pet peeves.
- akvadrako 5y ago
  Have you tried the ones with mechanical keyboards like the TUXEDO Stellaris 15?
  - zhdc1 5y ago
    Keyboard + reliability (they almost never break) + price (200 USD vs 1.8K EUR). I've since switched to an M1 Macbook, but until last year, I spend a good four-five years working from an x220t and x220. As long as the battery is in decent shape, there still really isn't a better value proposition than the old T420-T430 era Thinkpads.
- zhdc1 5y ago
  It's worth pointing out that there were several different OEMs for those older Thinkpads, and unfortunately the typing experience depends a lot on which one you have. The NMB manufactured keyboards are excellent. The others can be hit or miss.
- eb0la 5y ago
  If it is just for the Keyboard, Lenovo sells bluetooth Thinkpad keyboards. I've just checked and the microUSB ones were under 50€.
  - mhb 5y ago
    They also sell Thinkpad keyboards on new Thinkpads, but they're not impressive.
- pimlottc 5y ago
  I agree that the Thinkpad keyboard is pretty much unbeatable in terms of laptop keyboards. But the ergonomics of laptops are inherently terrible no matter how good the keyboard is. It is simply impossible to have both keyboard and screen at the correct heights when they are physically connected together in notebook form. For prolonged use, you really should have a separate keyboard and monitor, properly adjusted to your individual height and posture. Your back and neck will thank you for it.
boneitis 5y ago
> I'm all for frugality but that seems like a lot of compromises for what is this person's main work laptop. Cool that it works; but why have a slow workhorse like that? That's exactly what it was in my case. Maybe it isn't so bad with Ivy bridge, but my previous laptop that I upgraded from was an i7 Sandy bridge T420s. It has the 1600x900 display, and I decked it out a long time ago with 16GB and a solid state. But still, it totally choked on youtube/twitch 60fps feeds if they weren't piped through streamlink+VLC. I'm pretty self-satisfied with how long I was able to stick it out, but when I got my first tech job last year, it just choked on video calls, necessitating an upgrade to something more reasonably specced.

zwaps 5y ago

For one thing (for me, at least): The keyboard. I have yet to see a good keyboard on a modern laptop, and I use a lot of different ones. Some people do not care, but I do. There's some keyboards that are "still decent", but all of them are progressively getting worse. Well, they say that Mac keyboards are getting better again, but I don't like their zero-keytravel style in the first place, not even in the ones that were considered good. Thinkpad T400 roundabout was a good keyboard in my view.

Joeri 5y ago
As an m1 macbook owner I would say the new mac keyboard is good for a low travel keyboard, but not good when compared to thinkpad keyboards, especially the older 1.8mm and up key travel keyboards. There is only so much you can do to compensate for a lack of key travel.
justsomehnguy 5y ago
> The keyboard But what about the keyboard /layout/? My rant at [0] To clarify it somewhat, currently I have a laptop with two Fn keys. I rarely use the right one, but it feels very organic when I do. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29807256 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29807256
- zwaps 5y ago
  I know this was a big issue for Thinkpads throughout the years, but as much as I care about the feel of a keyboard, I have never cared about the layout. I guess we all have our pet peeves.
akvadrako 5y ago
Have you tried the ones with mechanical keyboards like the TUXEDO Stellaris 15?
- zhdc1 5y ago
  Keyboard + reliability (they almost never break) + price (200 USD vs 1.8K EUR). I've since switched to an M1 Macbook, but until last year, I spend a good four-five years working from an x220t and x220. As long as the battery is in decent shape, there still really isn't a better value proposition than the old T420-T430 era Thinkpads.
zhdc1 5y ago
It's worth pointing out that there were several different OEMs for those older Thinkpads, and unfortunately the typing experience depends a lot on which one you have. The NMB manufactured keyboards are excellent. The others can be hit or miss.
eb0la 5y ago
If it is just for the Keyboard, Lenovo sells bluetooth Thinkpad keyboards. I've just checked and the microUSB ones were under 50€.
- mhb 5y ago
  They also sell Thinkpad keyboards on new Thinkpads, but they're not impressive.
pimlottc 5y ago
I agree that the Thinkpad keyboard is pretty much unbeatable in terms of laptop keyboards. But the ergonomics of laptops are inherently terrible no matter how good the keyboard is. It is simply impossible to have both keyboard and screen at the correct heights when they are physically connected together in notebook form. For prolonged use, you really should have a separate keyboard and monitor, properly adjusted to your individual height and posture. Your back and neck will thank you for it.

boneitis 5y ago

> I'm all for frugality but that seems like a lot of compromises for what is this person's main work laptop. Cool that it works; but why have a slow workhorse like that? That's exactly what it was in my case. Maybe it isn't so bad with Ivy bridge, but my previous laptop that I upgraded from was an i7 Sandy bridge T420s. It has the 1600x900 display, and I decked it out a long time ago with 16GB and a solid state. But still, it totally choked on youtube/twitch 60fps feeds if they weren't piped through streamlink+VLC. I'm pretty self-satisfied with how long I was able to stick it out, but when I got my first tech job last year, it just choked on video calls, necessitating an upgrade to something more reasonably specced.