4 ms·

> I don't understand why Lenovo doesn't add an extra 1 mm to the thickness of their laptops, at least it would restore the reputation for typing feel on ThinkPa

> I don't understand why Lenovo doesn't add an extra 1 mm to the thickness of their laptops, at least it would restore the reputation for typing feel on ThinkPads. Because, after years of advertising made by designers and not by technical people, for most potential buyers more thin = more modern so to remain in the game they have to adapt to the most idiotic trend today: make devices thin as credit cards no matter how this would impact their usability, battery life, robustness, repairability etc.

boppo1 4y ago
all they gotta do is make an ad like this: person sits down at new thinkpad laptop "It's so... thicc" Narrator: we added an extra millimeter... starts clacking on the keys and makes an O-face *...for your pleasure." the market is absolutely out there, zoomers love their mechanical keyboards.
JamesAdir 4y ago
One marketing campaign can change it in no time. Maybe not for the entire industry but certainly for Lenovo.
stirfish 4y ago
I've had enough of these impossible beauty standards. I'd take a smart phone that's 3x as thick (thicc) if it had 3x the battery life, but I currently settle for a case that's also a battery. When my T420 finally dies (if that's even possible), I'm hoping the Framework laptop is chunky enough to take its place
- j5155 4y ago
  It exists: https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2019/2/26/18241117/energizer-power-max-p18k-pop-huge-battery-phone-mwc-2019 https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2019/2/26/18241117/e...
FridayoLeary 4y ago
I don't think that's true anymore since apple is reversing that trend with their new iphones being their thickest ever. The latest stupid trend seems to be to treat a device as a camera with smart features attached.
- least 4y ago
  I fail to see how this is a stupid trend. Most people want to have a camera on their person always and smartphones are that camera. They've completely killed off the point and shoot market and mostly the camcorder market as well. Seeing genuine improvement on what is a family's camera year over year is welcome.
  - FridayoLeary 4y ago
    It comes at the cost of the rest of the phone. The latest pro max whatever camera bump is huge. Especially as this comes after a decade of thinner phones being the ultimate goal of designers.
    - thorncorona 4y ago
      The camera is why I, and many others, buy a new iphone. So it makes sense I guess /shrug.
least 4y ago
Wanting thinner and lighter devices isn't some sort of weird desire only non-technical people want. Computers have gradually miniaturized from something that fits in a warehouse to something that fits into a room in your office into something that fits on people's desks into something that fits in your pocket. And subsequently, the skills required to repair said devices ends up changing. I won't say it's easier or harder, though I would say through-hole components are much easier to swap out than SMDs. Yet I don't really see you complaining about that. So no, striving for thinness is not idiotic. It follows the same principles of miniaturization of all components in PCs. It also changes the skillset required to work on the devices, but that's not really all that problematic. > the most idiotic trend today: make devices thin as credit cards no matter how this would impact their usability, battery life, robustness, repairability etc. They're not, though. Laptops are by definition a compromise product. You compromise on various things to afford yourself more portability. If you want a laptop that's easier to repair, they have those. You want something with more power? They have those too, but it's going to be less portable and have less battery life. Your real complaint is that they don't make a Thinkpad that matches your own set of acceptable compromises and tradeoffs in a portable device. That's totally valid but has nothing to do with your asinine complaints about thinness.
- JamesAdir 4y ago
  Today thinnest laptops are much more than just miniaturization. It reminds me the time when Motorola issued a thinner and thinner razr models just because they didn't have any other innovative idea than "thin". The moment that all the brands started focusing only on who is the thinnest instead of who has more features that's the point that they just ran out of innovative ideas. Batteries are like car tires, they are expected to need replacing. Why can't I replace them myself and instead have to send the laptop to the lab? Why can't I decide which brand of batteries I want just like in my car? Maybe I want more powerful batteries or maybe I want lighter batteries. Another issue is that the unrepairabilty of these laptops harms the environment a lot. Lenovo sells now laptops with 8GB and maybe it's acceptable for some uses. But in a year or two, these laptops will have to be thrown to trash cause you can't upgrade the memory in any way. As many mentioned here they have fully working laptops for 5 or even 10 years and that's laptops that saved from the need to buy new ones.
rjh29 4y ago
If the keyboard was so thin as to be unusable, people would stop ordering them. Yes the T14s has less travel but for me, it is just as nice to type on as the X220. I can't speak for the X series though, those are made to go as thin as possible, at a cost to battery life, reliability and CPU power.

boppo1 4y ago

all they gotta do is make an ad like this: person sits down at new thinkpad laptop "It's so... thicc" Narrator: we added an extra millimeter... starts clacking on the keys and makes an O-face *...for your pleasure." the market is absolutely out there, zoomers love their mechanical keyboards.

JamesAdir 4y ago

One marketing campaign can change it in no time. Maybe not for the entire industry but certainly for Lenovo.

stirfish 4y ago

I've had enough of these impossible beauty standards. I'd take a smart phone that's 3x as thick (thicc) if it had 3x the battery life, but I currently settle for a case that's also a battery. When my T420 finally dies (if that's even possible), I'm hoping the Framework laptop is chunky enough to take its place

j5155 4y ago
It exists: https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2019/2/26/18241117/energizer-power-max-p18k-pop-huge-battery-phone-mwc-2019 https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2019/2/26/18241117/e...

FridayoLeary 4y ago

I don't think that's true anymore since apple is reversing that trend with their new iphones being their thickest ever. The latest stupid trend seems to be to treat a device as a camera with smart features attached.

least 4y ago
I fail to see how this is a stupid trend. Most people want to have a camera on their person always and smartphones are that camera. They've completely killed off the point and shoot market and mostly the camcorder market as well. Seeing genuine improvement on what is a family's camera year over year is welcome.
- FridayoLeary 4y ago
  It comes at the cost of the rest of the phone. The latest pro max whatever camera bump is huge. Especially as this comes after a decade of thinner phones being the ultimate goal of designers.
  - thorncorona 4y ago
    The camera is why I, and many others, buy a new iphone. So it makes sense I guess /shrug.

least 4y ago

Wanting thinner and lighter devices isn't some sort of weird desire only non-technical people want. Computers have gradually miniaturized from something that fits in a warehouse to something that fits into a room in your office into something that fits on people's desks into something that fits in your pocket. And subsequently, the skills required to repair said devices ends up changing. I won't say it's easier or harder, though I would say through-hole components are much easier to swap out than SMDs. Yet I don't really see you complaining about that. So no, striving for thinness is not idiotic. It follows the same principles of miniaturization of all components in PCs. It also changes the skillset required to work on the devices, but that's not really all that problematic. > the most idiotic trend today: make devices thin as credit cards no matter how this would impact their usability, battery life, robustness, repairability etc. They're not, though. Laptops are by definition a compromise product. You compromise on various things to afford yourself more portability. If you want a laptop that's easier to repair, they have those. You want something with more power? They have those too, but it's going to be less portable and have less battery life. Your real complaint is that they don't make a Thinkpad that matches your own set of acceptable compromises and tradeoffs in a portable device. That's totally valid but has nothing to do with your asinine complaints about thinness.

JamesAdir 4y ago
Today thinnest laptops are much more than just miniaturization. It reminds me the time when Motorola issued a thinner and thinner razr models just because they didn't have any other innovative idea than "thin". The moment that all the brands started focusing only on who is the thinnest instead of who has more features that's the point that they just ran out of innovative ideas. Batteries are like car tires, they are expected to need replacing. Why can't I replace them myself and instead have to send the laptop to the lab? Why can't I decide which brand of batteries I want just like in my car? Maybe I want more powerful batteries or maybe I want lighter batteries. Another issue is that the unrepairabilty of these laptops harms the environment a lot. Lenovo sells now laptops with 8GB and maybe it's acceptable for some uses. But in a year or two, these laptops will have to be thrown to trash cause you can't upgrade the memory in any way. As many mentioned here they have fully working laptops for 5 or even 10 years and that's laptops that saved from the need to buy new ones.

rjh29 4y ago

If the keyboard was so thin as to be unusable, people would stop ordering them. Yes the T14s has less travel but for me, it is just as nice to type on as the X220. I can't speak for the X series though, those are made to go as thin as possible, at a cost to battery life, reliability and CPU power.