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So with the news about the T440 basically being total dogshit (that horrible 'clickpad' and the same terrible screen as its predecessor) I'm rapidly starting to look for an alternative. I've used Thinkpads ever since I could afford to own a laptop and while I wish Lenovo didn't completely screw up this generation, they have, and I probably need to stay out of it. My main requirements are: 1) Deals well with Linux. I do not give a poo poo about modern games. That means I'll almost definitely want standard Haswell integrated graphics. 2) 1080p screen or better. 3) 14" or smaller form factor (no smaller than 12"). 4) Replaceable hard drive (mSATA or otherwise). If a hard drive dies I don't want it taking the entire laptop with it or having to deal with some first-line helpdesk support saying poo poo like Linux voided my warranty. 5) 8GB ram minimum with 16GB being preferable. I will occasionally run VMs on this machine for work and I need something that can deal with that. My classic strategy was to just order the RAM later and install it myself to save a shitload of money, so if I can pull that off that would be my preference. 6) Trackpoint highly preferred. I love love love my Trackpoint, but if I have to give it up, so be it. I don't need to buy soon (my T61 is still holding up except for the occasional game and VM) but I will probably need to make a purchase before the year is out. crazyfish fucked around with this message at 17:35 on Sep 5, 2013 |
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Sep 5, 2013 17:30
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The T440s has a 1920x1080 IPS panel option and meets the rest of your requirements as well but does still have the clickpad.
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Sep 5, 2013 17:44
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Also I'm not sure about the status of linux driver support on the clickpad. edit: never mind looks like it exists. OXBALLS DOT COM fucked around with this message at 17:49 on Sep 5, 2013 |
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Sep 5, 2013 17:46
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The X-man cometh posted:Asus just announced a buttload of new products, including 2 nice looking Zenbooks. They are Sony's OEM, and tend to be pretty much on par with Dell/HP/Lenovo's non-Thinkpad lines. They do lack focus in their product lines, though- and seem to be hit and miss when it comes to laptops.
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Sep 5, 2013 17:47
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WHERE MY HAT IS AT posted:http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/05/lenovo-yoga-2-pro-hands-on/ Lenovo: We won't sell you a black Thinkpad, but Ideapads still come in black! Yoga 2, laptop of the year; calling it now
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Sep 5, 2013 17:54
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crazyfish posted:So with the news about the T440 basically being total dogshit (that horrible 'clickpad' and the same terrible screen as its predecessor) I'm rapidly starting to look for an alternative. I've used Thinkpads ever since I could afford to own a laptop and while I wish Lenovo didn't completely screw up this generation, they have, and I probably need to stay out of it. A 13" MacBook Air seems to really follow your needs here. OSX is the only Unix-certified (as per The Open Group) operating system still in active development. If you really want to play around in Linux, though, OSX handles VMs really well and has a very low footprint when it comes to RAM. Apple's QC has become ever more impeccable, but if indeed a hard drive dies (and I doubt it would- Samsung did a really good job on the new PCIe SSD) you could easily take the laptop to an Apple Store to get it replaced. You could also just keep an external 5400rpm beater hard drive for moving huge VM files around, because those files are so large that hard drive platters do a better job. That way, you also don't end up polluting the computer with files from work!
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Sep 5, 2013 17:55
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crazyfish posted:So with the news about the T440 basically being total dogshit (that horrible 'clickpad' and the same terrible screen as its predecessor) I'm rapidly starting to look for an alternative. I've used Thinkpads ever since I could afford to own a laptop and while I wish Lenovo didn't completely screw up this generation, they have, and I probably need to stay out of it. You can order the Latitude 74440 with Ubuntu 12.04 preinstalled. It should be available in a couple of weeks. Here's a PDF of all the specs: http://partnerdirect.dell.com/sites/channel/Documents/Latitude-7000-Series-Technical-Guidebook.pdf It won't be cheap though.
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Sep 5, 2013 17:58
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Anyone know when the ATIV 9 Plus actually plans to ship? I know they've been available for pre-order since August...
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Sep 5, 2013 17:58
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Hadlock posted:Lenovo: We won't sell you a black Thinkpad, but Ideapads still come in black! The laptop of this year will remain laptop of the year for quite a while, man. The idea that "Ultrabooks" need touch while no focus is being put on acquiring PCIe SSDs or 802.11ac is really unfortunate. Windows 8.1, while adding a lot of features Linux and OSX had long before, still doesn't remedy the horrible Metro environment, and really seems to be holding most laptop companies back. That said, the Yoga is a capable machine, but without discount it still costs as much as this generation's MacBook Air line, while offering so, so much less in terms of function.
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Sep 5, 2013 18:02
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You can turn off metro, classic shell is free and works great. This is a non issue and I suggest doing it, the underlying OS is really solid. Macbook Air is also an awesome choice but from what I understand win 8.0 isn't fully supported in drivers yet renzor posted:Anyone know when the ATIV 9 Plus actually plans to ship? I know they've been available for pre-order since August... Gonna guess Oct 18 when win 8.1 goes live I don't think manufactures want to support 8.0 unless they absolutely have to which is probably the reason for the delay on the corporate Thinkpad models and why the consumer idea pads were already released, they don't have to contractually support them for 6 years to their clients. Hadlock fucked around with this message at 18:17 on Sep 5, 2013 |
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Sep 5, 2013 18:13
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renzor posted:Anyone know when the ATIV 9 Plus actually plans to ship? I know they've been available for pre-order since August... September 10.
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Sep 5, 2013 18:20
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Naffer posted:You can order the Latitude 74440 with Ubuntu 12.04 preinstalled. It should be available in a couple of weeks. Here's a PDF of all the specs: http://partnerdirect.dell.com/sites/channel/Documents/Latitude-7000-Series-Technical-Guidebook.pdf This looks exactly like what I'm looking for. I've been wary of Dell generally but that is based on my experience more with their home lines. There's also a good chance that there are discounts available through my job as well. Thanks. sports posted:A 13" MacBook Air seems to really follow your needs here. OSX is the only Unix-certified (as per The Open Group) operating system still in active development. If you really want to play around in Linux, though, OSX handles VMs really well and has a very low footprint when it comes to RAM. I don't want to "play around" with Linux, I want to run it natively. I use it extensively for my job (I build and maintain a custom distro) and made the decision to run it full-time at home as well.
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Sep 5, 2013 18:42
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Best Buy has the 2012 MacBook Air 13" 128GB on clearance $599 new. Does the 2013 improvement justify a $500 price increase for the average user?
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Sep 5, 2013 18:48
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Hughmoris posted:Best Buy has the 2012 MacBook Air 13" 128GB on clearance $599 new. Does the 2013 improvement justify a $500 price increase for the average user?  For $600 that seems to be a steal even without the battery life. Is the ram 4gb?
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Sep 5, 2013 19:01
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Hughmoris posted:Best Buy has the 2012 MacBook Air 13" 128GB on clearance $599 new. Does the 2013 improvement justify a $500 price increase for the average user? If you use it plugged in the vast majority of the time and don't need stellar battery life, the answer is probably no. The new Airs primarily have much better battery life, higher quality wifi cards, and improved integrated graphics.
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Sep 5, 2013 19:02
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Hadlock posted:Yoga 2, laptop of the year; calling it now http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/09/lenovos-new-yoga-2-pro-has-the-same-flexible-hinge-3200x1800-display/ ArsTechnica posted:...and a frustratingly low-end 2.4GHz-only 802.11n Wi-Fi adapter. We understand laptops that don't ship with 802.11ac yet, since that's still a new standard and many people won't have upgraded to a compatible router just yet. But to ship a high-end laptop without dual-band 802.11n seems like a seriously missed opportunity.
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Sep 5, 2013 19:35
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Cream_Filling posted:And that screen, my god. The worst screen I've ever seen. Like borderline unusuable because of the horrible view angles worse than my 00s era LCDs. This is the same reason I can't recommend an T430/T430S with a straight face.
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Sep 5, 2013 19:40
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Hughmoris posted:Best Buy has the 2012 MacBook Air 13" 128GB on clearance $599 new. Does the 2013 improvement justify a $500 price increase for the average user? Is that something you saw in store? Surely doesnt seem to be available online. Pretty crazy price, even used ones seem to be going for $800+ on ebay.
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Sep 5, 2013 20:10
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Hughmoris posted:Best Buy has the 2012 MacBook Air 13" 128GB on clearance $599 new. Does the 2013 improvement justify a $500 price increase for the average user? That's an insane price. I paid $699 for a lightly used 2012 and returned the $949 open box I bought @ Best Buy, the $302 (including tax) wasn't worth the 4 extra hours of battery. 7 hours is enough for my usage.
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Sep 5, 2013 20:14
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Bob Morales posted:This is the same reason I can't recommend an T430/T430S with a straight face. No the screen on the x130e is much, much worse than the one on the T430. I recently ordered one of the latter for someone else and the screen was honestly not that bad.
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Sep 5, 2013 20:16
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The X-man cometh posted:Asus just announced a buttload of new products, including 2 nice looking Zenbooks. The Trio is a really cool way of doing the dual OS thing. It's probably not very practical though.
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Sep 5, 2013 20:58
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Watermelon Daiquiri posted:
The battery life on the 2012 Air still blows most 2013 and 2014 laptops out of the water. Non-Apple companies seem to be taking the easier path of just letting Intel do the standardization and slapping on faux-retina screens, much unlike the careful care and thought that goes into Macs- which are nearly a year ahead in standardization.
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Sep 6, 2013 03:21
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sports posted:OSX is the only Unix-certified (as per The Open Group) operating system still in active development. You actually think this is a convincing or impressive thing to say.
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Sep 6, 2013 03:28
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sports posted:The battery life on the 2012 Air still blows most 2013 and 2014 laptops out of the water. As does the battery life of many other $800+ laptops. sports posted:Non-Apple companies seem to be taking the easier path of just letting Intel do the standardization and slapping on faux-retina screens, much unlike the careful care and thought that goes into Macs- which are nearly a year ahead in standardization. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/standardization
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Sep 6, 2013 03:40
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shrughes posted:As does the battery life of many other $800+ laptops. Yes, it is true that the 2012 MBA does have a battery life that beats out all other laptops in the $800+ price range, with the exception of the 2013 MBA and the 19++ cell X220. Whoops. Missed an S here. I should have written "is up to current standards set this year by IEEE."
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Sep 6, 2013 03:57
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shrughes posted:You actually think this is a convincing or impressive thing to say. Well, yes. The reason why BSD and Linux aren't certified is because they are broken. The good thing about them is that they manage to be so broken that they aren't worth paying for, so companies can shell out $ for people to implement free software instead of paying way more for OSX user and enterprise licenses.
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Sep 6, 2013 04:00
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sports posted:Well, yes. The reason why BSD and Linux aren't certified is because they are broken. The good thing about them is that they manage to be so broken that they aren't worth paying for, so companies can shell out $ for people to implement free software instead of paying way more for OSX user and enterprise licenses. I'm beginning to think you may be a fan of Apple products. Seriously dude, you do realize this is not YOSPOS, right? No one cares about your dumb opinions on operating systems. If you want to masturbate to OSX and wax poetic about the greatness of Apple, you can do that in the megathreads reserved for such topics. This is a laptop recommendation/discussion thread not a Macbook Air/Pro thread. Not everyone wants or needs a MacBook Pro, so get out of here with that poo poo.
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Sep 6, 2013 04:33
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GrizzlyCow posted:I'm beginning to think you may be a fan of Apple products.
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Sep 6, 2013 04:35
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Doctor rear end in a top hat posted:Right, this is the Lenovo thread where we talk about ThinkPads only. And the y410p. I mean isn't it though?
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Sep 6, 2013 04:39
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Cat Army 
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If you havent ignored sports at this point I don't know what to tell you
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Sep 6, 2013 04:49
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sports posted:The battery life on the 2012 Air still blows most 2013 and 2014 laptops out of the water. Apple buys their screens from Samsung, so the Ativ Book 9 must be "true retina".
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Sep 6, 2013 04:51
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Doctor rear end in a top hat posted:Right, this is the Lenovo thread where we talk about ThinkPads only. We pay lip service to Samsung and Dell sometimes.
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Sep 6, 2013 04:52
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GrizzlyCow posted:I'm beginning to think you may be a fan of Apple products. Not everyone needs a MacBook- right. I agree with this statement wholly. Absolutely nobody needs a laptop that doesn't work- I believe in this statement wholly, and this is where I begin to run into trouble. People who visit this thread looking for recommendations are people who obviously seek some depth in their considerations for a purchase. Because of this, I can only extend my regards for a product that has (what I believe) a depth of design considerations that would be noticed during use by these same people. You can walk into a big-box store, walk out with a new laptop, and be perfectly fine with it, provided that you use a laptop with the same amount of care you put into the act of purchasing it. I can only recommend the computers I know that people will be happy with, provided they do end up making the purchase. (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
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Sep 6, 2013 04:55
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Looking for a laptop around, but preferably under 12", to surf the web and run engine management software. Going to be getting used in the garage so a durable unit would be beneficial. Looking at used lenovo x120's like in the op, are these horribly slow or unusable? The price point is nice. Trying to stay ~$300 edit- something like this? http://www.ebay.com/itm/130980603225?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649 always be closing fucked around with this message at 06:15 on Sep 6, 2013 |
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Sep 6, 2013 06:07
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sports posted:Not everyone needs a MacBook- right. I agree with this statement wholly. You responded to "I want to run Linux natively on a laptop where I can replace the hard drive myself" with "How about a Macbook Air with a Linux VM? You can always take it to the Apple Store" 
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Sep 6, 2013 06:10
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 No more arguing about Apple laptopsYou are allowed to recommend Apple laptops where appropriate. That is a helpful post. Recommending Apple laptops to everyone regardless of their needs is being a fanboy and is NOT making helpful posts. If someone is making posts that are not helpful, report them and do not reply. Alereon fucked around with this message at 06:19 on Sep 6, 2013 |
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Sep 6, 2013 06:17
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Alright, I'm terrible at picking out laptops, but I need one. I just transferred into a University, which means more time on a more distant and much larger campus than I had to deal with before. Being in the Engineering program means that not only do I have more and larger books to lug about, but I have to carry a tool box too some days. Also, they just started bus service, and I can't beat the student rate for that over driving, so that means more time walking and carrying lots of stuff. I've pretty much decided that getting a laptop should be a priority. I'm trying to find something easy to use and versatile. I need to be able to read on it and type well so I can use it for e-books instead of carrying around 10 lbs of paper books with me each day. I'm looking at the ultrabook end of things, because I'm not terrible strapped for cash, and I would like to get something versatile and beefy. Also, I think the touch screens should be more natural to read a text book off of. I'm not concerned about gaming, I've got a serviceable gaming PC at home. Most importantly though, I'm a bit of a klutz, and theres going to be a lot of walking and heat (Texas is hot.). Anything out there that's to be recommended that's good for the job? What about that new Yoga coming out? October is a bit of a wait, and I'm not sure if I really need the updated specs, although I'd expect this laptop to last me till I get my undergraduate degree in a couple years, so getting a recent device should be a priority. Any advice? Either on laptops, or ways I might have made misassumptions, such as wanting a touch pad for reading e-texts?
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Sep 6, 2013 06:24
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Killer-of-Lawyers posted:Alright, I'm terrible at picking out laptops, but I need one. I just transferred into a University, which means more time on a more distant and much larger campus than I had to deal with before. Being in the Engineering program means that not only do I have more and larger books to lug about, but I have to carry a tool box too some days. Also, they just started bus service, and I can't beat the student rate for that over driving, so that means more time walking and carrying lots of stuff. I'd suggest a Chromebook. They're extremely cheap, light, and durable, which seem to be your highest priorities. You probably don't need a Haswell ultrabook for the kinds of things that you listed. Touch screens cost at least $100 more than their non-touchscreen peers, which isn't really worth it if you're just getting the touchscreen because it feels more like thumbing a book. Even if you don't want a Chromebook, I'd suggest not getting a touchscreen unless you really need one (are you going to school for graphic design and you'll want to use the screen as though you were drawing on paper, for instance? Engineering doesn't count for this, as most of the good Engineering tools don't need touch screens)
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Sep 6, 2013 07:19
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Yeah, that makes sense, really. I might want something a little beefier than a Chromebook, but I know a few people who have raved about their utility. They use their own OS, don't they? I may want to stick with a windows machine just for compatibility and all. What about a good durable business style laptop? Thinkpads still a thing like mentioned in the OP? edit: And to clarify, light and durable are a thing with me, but I'm not totally concerned with cost. I'd rather get more than I need out of a laptop than less, for convenience purposes. edit2: Ahh, the thinkpads won't be out with the newer intel chips until the end of october, which is a bit of a wait to get something I could be using now. Killer-of-Lawyers fucked around with this message at 08:21 on Sep 6, 2013 |
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Sep 6, 2013 08:08
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Killer-of-Lawyers posted:Yeah, that makes sense, really. I might want something a little beefier than a Chromebook, but I know a few people who have raved about their utility. They use their own OS, don't they? I may want to stick with a windows machine just for compatibility and all. What about a good durable business style laptop? Thinkpads still a thing like mentioned in the OP? Yes, they use a Chrome OS, but they also work really well with Linux, which is really what you'd want for 99% of Engineering programs.
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Sep 6, 2013 11:26
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