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I'm super annoyed with the changes that Lenovo did to the Thinkpad line. I've been a longtime user and first they changed the keyboard style, then the layout, a

I'm super annoyed with the changes that Lenovo did to the Thinkpad line. I've been a longtime user and first they changed the keyboard style, then the layout, and then they got rid of the physical mouse buttons (requiring one to use the trackpad as a mouse button). Frankly, there is literally nothing compelling about Thinkpads anymore. I'm the market and I test drove the XPS 13, which was very good. That being said, I've had HORRIBLE customer service experience with Dell in the past. I'm in the market for a new laptop here very soon and I can't honestly think of a reason not to get a MacBook Pro w/ Retina and just throw Ubuntu on it. I know there are issues with the boot order, but seems like most of those are solved now. Anyone have experience with recent MBP w/ Ubuntu?

collyw 13y ago
OK not a Macbook Pro, but I got hold of a 2012 Macbook Air recently . Installing Ubuntu was a pain in the arse (and the reason I am with Ubunutu rather than another version of Linux - they do make it a bit easier with the secure boot nonsense). Its a work machine, so I can't just wipe OSX. One button mouse is crap as well. You can emulate a right click by tapping with two fingers, but it sometimes doesn't work well with certain applications. I miss having a third button and pasting the highlighted buffer. Some keys are missing - no delete, only backspace. Loads of little quirks like this - you can work around but why should I need to? Hardware wise it seems to work well though.And no real issues with Ubunutu recognising stuff. Some other really annoying stuff like no HDMI, lack of ethernet port (who needs that you say? I did when I went to a boarding house in Germany, and that is how the internet was supplied. Plus its the easiest way to get into the secure network at work). If I was paying out of my own pocket, I would not recommend this.
- protomyth 13y ago
  "One button mouse is crap as well" Is this something to do with the driver, because the current Apple mice are not one button unless you call multi-touch that. Also, is the "fn + delete" not mappable in Ubuntu as that is the OS X mapping for a real delete?
  - collyw 13y ago
    OK, zero button mouse. Unable to emulate a third button so far.
  - collyw 13y ago
    It definitely clicks on the bottom part where a button would have been. The top / middle don't.
ohazi 13y ago
So the new Thinkpad keyboard and trackpad are at least as crappy as the ones on the MBP/MBA (low-travel chicklet keys, annoying layout, and a single click-anywhere track surface that's painful to use with hi-dpi displays). I have a T520 (1080p) at home with the nice keyboard/trackpad and a newer T540p (3k) at work. Honestly, I'd still buy the T540p again if I had to. Get yourself a mouse, pay the extra $30 for the nice Intel wifi card, skip the second GPU, and sleep well knowing that you're not going to have hardware or driver issues. The same simply cannot be said about the MBP.
- fingerprinter 13y ago
  I have been looking at the T5XX line, but I just don't want something that large! I travel quite a bit and very much prefer a 13" max system. I have X220 right now and the X1 would have been perfect if they didn't completely screw it up.
  - nextos 13y ago
    OP here. X1 or X220 would be ideal machines if Lenovo engineers used their brains. The X220 was really good. The only thing it needed was a better screen, a decent trackpad, and a slightly less noisy fan. It got all those improvements, but they messed up with the case, introduced a ULV processor, limited the amount of RAM and upgradeability, botched the keyboard, and many more things.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
helper 13y ago
The only thing that doesn't work on my late 2013 13" MBPr (11,1) is the builtin webcam.
tnajdek 13y ago
I've tried that and failed. Few problems to expect: switchable graphics, external screens, crazy DPI, wifi drivers. For more details have a look at my blog entry: http://doppnet.com/2013/02/running-linux-on-2012-macbook-pro-retina/ http://doppnet.com/2013/02/running-linux-on-2012-macbook-pro... I've ended up going for Asus U500. It's good but not ideal.
wpietri 13y ago
No solution, but I share your hate for the new keyboards. Last I had to replace my laptop I went to a lot of trouble to buy refurbished gear just so I could get the old model. I'm hoping that Lenovo gets their act together before my current one dies, but it is a pretty forlorn hope.

collyw 13y ago

OK not a Macbook Pro, but I got hold of a 2012 Macbook Air recently . Installing Ubuntu was a pain in the arse (and the reason I am with Ubunutu rather than another version of Linux - they do make it a bit easier with the secure boot nonsense). Its a work machine, so I can't just wipe OSX. One button mouse is crap as well. You can emulate a right click by tapping with two fingers, but it sometimes doesn't work well with certain applications. I miss having a third button and pasting the highlighted buffer. Some keys are missing - no delete, only backspace. Loads of little quirks like this - you can work around but why should I need to? Hardware wise it seems to work well though.And no real issues with Ubunutu recognising stuff. Some other really annoying stuff like no HDMI, lack of ethernet port (who needs that you say? I did when I went to a boarding house in Germany, and that is how the internet was supplied. Plus its the easiest way to get into the secure network at work). If I was paying out of my own pocket, I would not recommend this.

protomyth 13y ago
"One button mouse is crap as well" Is this something to do with the driver, because the current Apple mice are not one button unless you call multi-touch that. Also, is the "fn + delete" not mappable in Ubuntu as that is the OS X mapping for a real delete?
- collyw 13y ago
  OK, zero button mouse. Unable to emulate a third button so far.
- collyw 13y ago
  It definitely clicks on the bottom part where a button would have been. The top / middle don't.

ohazi 13y ago

So the new Thinkpad keyboard and trackpad are at least as crappy as the ones on the MBP/MBA (low-travel chicklet keys, annoying layout, and a single click-anywhere track surface that's painful to use with hi-dpi displays). I have a T520 (1080p) at home with the nice keyboard/trackpad and a newer T540p (3k) at work. Honestly, I'd still buy the T540p again if I had to. Get yourself a mouse, pay the extra $30 for the nice Intel wifi card, skip the second GPU, and sleep well knowing that you're not going to have hardware or driver issues. The same simply cannot be said about the MBP.

fingerprinter 13y ago
I have been looking at the T5XX line, but I just don't want something that large! I travel quite a bit and very much prefer a 13" max system. I have X220 right now and the X1 would have been perfect if they didn't completely screw it up.
- nextos 13y ago
  OP here. X1 or X220 would be ideal machines if Lenovo engineers used their brains. The X220 was really good. The only thing it needed was a better screen, a decent trackpad, and a slightly less noisy fan. It got all those improvements, but they messed up with the case, introduced a ULV processor, limited the amount of RAM and upgradeability, botched the keyboard, and many more things.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]

helper 13y ago

The only thing that doesn't work on my late 2013 13" MBPr (11,1) is the builtin webcam.

tnajdek 13y ago

I've tried that and failed. Few problems to expect: switchable graphics, external screens, crazy DPI, wifi drivers. For more details have a look at my blog entry: http://doppnet.com/2013/02/running-linux-on-2012-macbook-pro-retina/ http://doppnet.com/2013/02/running-linux-on-2012-macbook-pro... I've ended up going for Asus U500. It's good but not ideal.

wpietri 13y ago

No solution, but I share your hate for the new keyboards. Last I had to replace my laptop I went to a lot of trouble to buy refurbished gear just so I could get the old model. I'm hoping that Lenovo gets their act together before my current one dies, but it is a pretty forlorn hope.