4 ms·

I bought 4 Thinkpads and broke 2: - X60s that I sat on. 1024x768 really sucks. ~$70 - X61 still running strong on ubuntu, 32G ssd too small for anything els

by arh68 11y ago

I bought 4 Thinkpads and broke 2: - X60s that I sat on. 1024x768 really sucks. ~$70 - X61 still running strong on ubuntu, 32G ssd too small for anything else. 1024x768. ~$75 - X200s that I loved. 1440x900. Windows and Crunchbang Linux. Rare but routine video/display issues & blue screens. :( 128G SSD went into the T61p. ~$220 - T61p too heavy to pick up. 1920x1200. With 8GB and an SSD, it's not slow at all. Display hinge has half an inch of play. Still running windows. ~$250 I won't buy another Thinkpad. I would buy a Dell Precision M4800 (to replace the T61p) and I still like 11" MacBooks (to replace the x200s). Needless to say old Thinkpad batteries are shot, though 1440x900 and 1920x1200 look(ed) great.

hackmiester 11y ago
The M4800 is kinda tough to run Linux on, but I still recommend it. I have not yet run it without the Nvidia kernel driver, but that may have to do with my choice of graphics card. I would tell you which one this is, but it's so new it's not in my 'lspci' results. $ lspci|grep VGA 01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation Device 0ff6 (rev a1)
nathanaldensr 11y ago
I recommend strongly against buying a Dell, specifically the M4800. I ordered two for my business recently. I chose the Intel AC 7260 network adapter, which turns out to have all kinds of problems connecting reliably to 802.11n networks (the vast majority). On my laptop specifically, the motherboard and/or video card had major problems resulting in failure to shut down, an endless cycle of video adapter driver crashes and re-initializations resulting in system lockup, problems waking up from sleep, etc. I returned mine for a replacement, only to find the keyboard was absolutely horrendous--keys would double-press (bounce) almost every other key when typing fast and with moderate to heavy pressure. Upgrading the BIOS did not help as it apparently did with other Dell models. Also, Dell refuses to refund my money on the now two defective laptops because I'm outside of the 30 day refund window. They wouldn't make an exception. I told them I was never purchasing a Dell again. I can (and did) buy a 2014 MacBook Pro with better specs for the same price and now I'm running Windows in Boot Camp (for .NET development) with flawless performance. Combined with a 3-year Apple Care agreement, I never have to worry about being nickeled-and-dimed over way-too-short refund periods. In short, avoid Dell. They are shipping substandard hardware and are even getting things that should be commoditized to perfection (the keyboard) wrong.
- arh68 11y ago
  Thank you for sharing, I will definitely factor that in. It's harder to find a solid upgradeable workstation than I thought.
  - kpil 11y ago
    I have been happy with anything I have bought from Asus. Not so with laptops from lenovo, dell, fujitsu and HP
  - nathanaldensr 11y ago
    This has been my life's torment over the past several weeks. There really didn't seem to be a reasonably-priced option that "just worked" except the MacBook Pro. Combined with Apple Care, it means I won't have to go through what I just went through again. And just to be clear, I vastly prefer Windows 8.1 over OS X. My primary tasks are .NET and iOS development, so this isn't a biased decision. I /wanted/ to find a PC manufacturer that made great laptops, but I read too many horror stories for all the top models, and experienced some of my own with the M4800.
- synx508 11y ago
  As well as dubious wireless adapters Dell also shipped a USB GigE adapter for some XPS15 models that doesn't work for more than a few hours before the adapter crashes and needs to be power cycled by removing and reinserting it. I had a customer with one XPS15 that contained both the terrible wireless and terrible external wired network adapter. The story gets better though, Dell shipped a demo model of a new XPS15 recently and we discovered the improved USB3.0 GigE adapter that it ships with is now stable, so got them to swap the older ones out but customers shouldn't really be testing hardware that is unable to perform its basic function reliably.

by arh68 11y ago

hackmiester 11y ago

The M4800 is kinda tough to run Linux on, but I still recommend it. I have not yet run it without the Nvidia kernel driver, but that may have to do with my choice of graphics card. I would tell you which one this is, but it's so new it's not in my 'lspci' results. $ lspci|grep VGA 01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation Device 0ff6 (rev a1)

nathanaldensr 11y ago

I recommend strongly against buying a Dell, specifically the M4800. I ordered two for my business recently. I chose the Intel AC 7260 network adapter, which turns out to have all kinds of problems connecting reliably to 802.11n networks (the vast majority). On my laptop specifically, the motherboard and/or video card had major problems resulting in failure to shut down, an endless cycle of video adapter driver crashes and re-initializations resulting in system lockup, problems waking up from sleep, etc. I returned mine for a replacement, only to find the keyboard was absolutely horrendous--keys would double-press (bounce) almost every other key when typing fast and with moderate to heavy pressure. Upgrading the BIOS did not help as it apparently did with other Dell models. Also, Dell refuses to refund my money on the now two defective laptops because I'm outside of the 30 day refund window. They wouldn't make an exception. I told them I was never purchasing a Dell again. I can (and did) buy a 2014 MacBook Pro with better specs for the same price and now I'm running Windows in Boot Camp (for .NET development) with flawless performance. Combined with a 3-year Apple Care agreement, I never have to worry about being nickeled-and-dimed over way-too-short refund periods. In short, avoid Dell. They are shipping substandard hardware and are even getting things that should be commoditized to perfection (the keyboard) wrong.

arh68 11y ago
Thank you for sharing, I will definitely factor that in. It's harder to find a solid upgradeable workstation than I thought.
- kpil 11y ago
  I have been happy with anything I have bought from Asus. Not so with laptops from lenovo, dell, fujitsu and HP
- nathanaldensr 11y ago
  This has been my life's torment over the past several weeks. There really didn't seem to be a reasonably-priced option that "just worked" except the MacBook Pro. Combined with Apple Care, it means I won't have to go through what I just went through again. And just to be clear, I vastly prefer Windows 8.1 over OS X. My primary tasks are .NET and iOS development, so this isn't a biased decision. I /wanted/ to find a PC manufacturer that made great laptops, but I read too many horror stories for all the top models, and experienced some of my own with the M4800.
synx508 11y ago
As well as dubious wireless adapters Dell also shipped a USB GigE adapter for some XPS15 models that doesn't work for more than a few hours before the adapter crashes and needs to be power cycled by removing and reinserting it. I had a customer with one XPS15 that contained both the terrible wireless and terrible external wired network adapter. The story gets better though, Dell shipped a demo model of a new XPS15 recently and we discovered the improved USB3.0 GigE adapter that it ships with is now stable, so got them to swap the older ones out but customers shouldn't really be testing hardware that is unable to perform its basic function reliably.