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Lakitu7 posted:I'm looking to upgrade my ancient gen-1 10" Acer Atom netbook. I know that the netbook thread (and the netbook!) are dead. All I actually want is a bigger, high-res screen (400 vertical is a little constraining!) and similarly lasts-a-workday battery life. Everything I do is remotely connecting to other machines so specs are really not at all a priority. I'm primarily going to be looking at text on a terminal while tabbing to a browser and occasionally an image or something. I don't care about playing games on a laptop. Take this with a grain of salt, but supposedly Surface RT/Surface 2 can function pretty well as a remote terminal. The original is getting pretty cheap nowadays (<$200).
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Nov 29, 2013 21:14
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Unless you need a Win machine, the MBA has what you are looking for. AFAIK, you can also get the MBA to dual-boot into Windows. If you are looking for a dedicated Win laptop, the x240 with the i3-4010 should do a great job at replacing your previous laptop. If you want a more obvious upgrade, definitely opt for the i5-4200 instead. If you want to experience the Metro interface, a touch screen is really a necessity. Otherwise, you can enjoyably experience Win8.1 with only bare glimpses of the metro interface. It takes a few hours to set your system options right if you don't know where to go, but the WinKey+S search tool is your best friend in the entire world. The touch screen will also add a lot to the cost of your laptop. The difference between the 440 and the 440s is the latter being a more "ultrabook"-ish laptop than the 440. The 440s also has a 1080p screen option, and lower weight. Both are standard Thinkpad quality, which is far better than many other product lines. All 440 models have 14inch screens, 5x0 models have 15inch, and x2x0 models are 12.5inch. Your workload doesn't sound demanding, so maybe a standard 6-cell will do you right. But if you decide to get a 9-cell, you might go for days. ALL OF THIS BEING SAID: Your usage case sounds really light. If you can wait, Lenovo is releasing the x140e, an 11inch bugger with an AMD chip in it. It wont be good for much, but it should be perfect for you and cheaper than either the x240 or the MBA by a few hundred dollars.
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Nov 29, 2013 21:15
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Ive got the x220. And im lurking here all the time crawing for the x240, keep telling myself all the time it's not worth the upgrade. I don't like that my x220 have lasted this long, and will probably last for years to come. 
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Nov 29, 2013 21:18
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Magic Underwear posted:Take this with a grain of salt, but supposedly Surface RT/Surface 2 can function pretty well as a remote terminal. The original is getting pretty cheap nowadays (<$200). Just from experience, a lot of people at work use the RT during meetings to remote into their desktops. They work fine as long as you are OK with the size of the screen. I use mine to remote in if I need to do some quick editing/kick off a build or something. You'd definitely want one of the keyboards though.
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Nov 29, 2013 21:27
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P.N.T.M. posted:Your usage case sounds really light. If you can wait, Lenovo is releasing the x140e, an 11inch bugger with an AMD chip in it. It wont be good for much, but it should be perfect for you and cheaper than either the x240 or the MBA by a few hundred dollars. He wants a high-res screen, though. Kind of rules out the X and most 11" screens
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Nov 29, 2013 21:36
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The workplace is very strongly Windows. The other folks with Apples pay a hefty tax in software support headaches I don't want to deal with, and honestly I'm just not much a fan, though I totally acknowledge that people are justified in telling me to buy MBA with what I said. Chromebooks and Android Tablets with keyboards would definitely be the way to cheap out, but I've already got an android phone and android tablet and they're lovely for consuming media but don't feel right to me for a business machine. This time around I'm more looking to get something nice than cheap out, I guess, so long as I'm not being ripped off. The thing that really drives me to a larger, nicer screen is reading PDFs. It's a rather frequent use case and the main thing drives me to upgrade from the tiny low res netbook. For that reason I'm definitely leaning more toward T440s than X240. They come out to literally the same price to the cent when configured as I think I would. X series sounds like the right design philosophy but there's no 14" outside the Carbon and I don't think I want to give up the interchangeable batteries. P.N.T.M. posted:Your workload doesn't sound demanding, so maybe a standard 6-cell will do you right. But if you decide to get a 9-cell, you might go for days. 
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Nov 29, 2013 21:48
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Bob Morales posted:He wants a high-res screen, though. Kind of rules out the X and most 11" screens I remember reading the X240 was supposed to have a 1080p screen, hopefully that's still coming.
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Nov 29, 2013 21:53
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Amphion posted:I remember reading the X240 was supposed to have a 1080p screen, hopefully that's still coming. On the X240 configuration page you can select "T440s 14.0 FHD WWAN" for $140 over the "T440s 14.0 HD+ WWAN" quote:FHD – FHD display designation indicates maximum of 1920 x 1080 resoultion.  I have no idea what the "T440s" or "14.0" words in these options mean, since X240 is not a T440s and it's 12.5" not 14". I'm somewhat sure I want the 14" of the 440s, but it appears that the resolution on both (if configured that way) is the same.
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Nov 29, 2013 22:10
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Is now a good time to pull the trigger on a y510p? The B&N Gold discount combines with their special holiday weekend pricing, but I don't know how that price stacks up in comparison.
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Nov 30, 2013 00:09
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Hmm. If I put another 8GB DDR3 1600 into my T440s and it still shows 4096mb in BIOS & Windows, is that likely to be the laptop or the memory? I'm obviously returning the memory tomorrow and picking up something different, but I thought it would at least show 12GB and then just throw errors or something
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Nov 30, 2013 00:40
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Martytoof posted:Hmm. If I put another 8GB DDR3 1600 into my T440s and it still shows 4096mb in BIOS & Windows, is that likely to be the laptop or the memory? I'm obviously returning the memory tomorrow and picking up something different, but I thought it would at least show 12GB and then just throw errors or something How many times have you tried re-seating the chip? Does the chip you bought match what Crucial shows as compatible? http://www.crucial.com/upgrade/Lenovo-memory/ThinkPad+T+Series/ThinkPad+T440s-upgrades.html
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Nov 30, 2013 00:49
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I am currently a Windows user and am considering a Chromebook as a replacement for my current laptop. I like to have my files on my hard drive, but in a laptop I look for more of the ability to access my files when I need them and I'm not home. For example when I'm on campus where there is WiFi. I already use many of Google's products (Chrome, Android (on my phone), Gmail, and (working on switching to) Drive) Would a Chromebook be a terrible idea for me? If not, what are some good options or does it not really matter so much?
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Nov 30, 2013 00:58
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Bob Morales posted:How many times have you tried re-seating the chip? Reseated it at least four times. Sadly no dice. And yeah, I am pretty sure the specs are the same. Here's the sticker from the box I'm returning tomorrow: 
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Nov 30, 2013 01:06
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My girlfriend needs a new laptop and I am buying it for her. I'm willing to up to and slightly past $1000. I want something rugged and with good battery life, because she travels for her schoolwork (Bangladesh). She needs something fairly powerful because she does not only Office work but also statistical programming with SAS and R. So, it can't just be an office/web/email laptop. She saw that many 15.6" laptops have numpads and really liked that feature, so I'm not willing to go with a Lenovo 440 series. I am looking at the brand new Lenovo t540p, but I searched this thread and saw a few people dissing the t540p compared to t530. I know nothing about laptops and wasn't sure if I was making a terrible choice. I added enough customizations to bring it up to $1,075: Core i5-4200M, Windows 8 pro (needed for her SAS software), an FHD display, 8 GB of RAM, a 9 cell battery, and dual-band wireless. Am I making a big mistake? I would love to get a nice rugged ThinkPad with a 15.6" display, but I'm not sure at this price if I should start looking at a Dell Latitude or HP ProBook. The 4th gen laptops from Dell and HP look like they don't have Windows 8 as a choice, which I would prefer. Thank you in advance for any advice you can give me.
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Nov 30, 2013 04:07
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plushpuffin posted:She saw that many 15.6" laptops have numpads and really liked that feature, so I'm not willing to go with a Lenovo 440 series. I am looking at the brand new Lenovo t540p, but I searched this thread and saw a few people dissing the t540p compared to t530. I know nothing about laptops and wasn't sure if I was making a terrible choice. The reason why we were dissing the t540p vs the t530 was because it had a numpad, and also because the trackpad is off center (because the keyboard is shifted to the left to make room for the numpad) If she likes the numpad and doesn't mind the trackpad being off-center she should be fine If she's crunching gigs of data (why else would you use R?) you might want to opt for the quad core i7-4xxx-qm but otherwise the i5 should be plenty beefy and it sounds like you got her a worthwhile device
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Nov 30, 2013 04:24
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That's great to hear! I just got a little nervous while picking it out and I wanted some reassurance. I think I was reading too much into the posts that were discussing the t540p (I thought there was some implied criticism of its build quality). It didn't help that it was new enough not to have many reviews out for it yet. As for the processor, she was (barely) making do with an old Dell Inspiron 1545 for all of her work, so it's likely that even the base i3 would have been sufficient. I just went with a slight upgrade with the i5 to future proof it a bit, considering how much I was already spending. Thank you so much for your prompt response! plushpuffin fucked around with this message at 06:37 on Nov 30, 2013 |
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Nov 30, 2013 06:23
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plushpuffin posted:That's great to hear! I just got a little nervous while picking it out and I wanted some reassurance. I think I was reading too much into the posts that were discussing the t540p (I thought there was some implied criticism of its build quality). It didn't help that it was new enough not to have many reviews out for it yet. The build quality on it is still slightly uncertain. Thinkpads have a good reputation overall but the latest redesign is significant and reviews seem to say it's not quite as solid as the older ones due to the design changes. You're probably still fine but I'd also definitely recommend she go and try out a computer with a numpad like that first because it's annoying as hell to a lot of people. Personally I would rather carry a separate 10-key than deal with the super off-center layout, especially if yo'ure right handed.
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Nov 30, 2013 06:42
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Cream_Filling posted:The build quality on it is still slightly uncertain. Thinkpads have a good reputation overall but the latest redesign is significant and reviews seem to say it's not quite as solid as the older ones due to the design changes. Thanks for the warning. I've already ordered it, and I see that there are free returns on Nov-Dev orders until sometime in January. If it turns out to be flaky, I'll return it and order it her something else.
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Nov 30, 2013 06:53
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Cream_Filling posted:You're probably still fine but I'd also definitely recommend she go and try out a computer with a numpad like that first because it's annoying as hell to a lot of people. Personally I would rather carry a separate 10-key than deal with the super off-center layout, especially if yo'ure right handed. Agreed, if you ever ever use the right shift key you'll be in for a rude suprise, they have to shrink down a bunch of keys on the right hand side. Backspace, enter, even the arrow keys are shrunk down. Personally, I find myself using the backspace, enter, right shift and arrow keys all the time, so I could never use a lovely, gimped keyboard like that. If I absolutely needed a numpad, I'd just get a bluetooth numpad and use that. Numpads on the keyboard are super aggrivating for a lot of people unless you play WoW or something. The one month I had a laptop with a numpad, I ended up rebinding about half of the numpad so that the left-most keys of the "numpad" corresponded with the backspace, "\", enter, left shift and arrow keys. Even then it was still horrible to deal with.
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Nov 30, 2013 07:04
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Erdricks posted:Is now a good time to pull the trigger on a y510p? The B&N Gold discount combines with their special holiday weekend pricing, but I don't know how that price stacks up in comparison. Yes. That being said, it's already a pretty cheap laptop for what you're getting, so it's always a good time to pull the trigger on the Y410p/Y510p (IE even if you waited, you're never going to have to pay much
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Nov 30, 2013 07:13
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Lakitu7 posted:On the X240 configuration page you can select "T440s 14.0 FHD WWAN" for $140 over the "T440s 14.0 HD+ WWAN" Now here's something I noticed when I was originally comparing the T430 to the T430s: If you have two tabs open, each on a different configuration page (e.g. T430 and T430s), and you start fiddling with the config in the second tab, when you return to the first tab to configure you will notice the config list will change to mirror that of the second tab. The altered tab times out if you try to add it to the cart. It sounds like you just had that happen to you. Edit: Just tested it, and I got the x131e to list the specs of the T540.  The FHD option is currently on the T440p, T440s, and T540, along with some older models. The x240 right now only has three screen options: 1366x768TN Anti-Glare : 1366x768IPS Anti-Glare : 1366x768IPS Touch Anti-Glare. It isn't tiny, but you do feel a little cramped at that resolution. It sounds like its almost double the resolution of your old netbook, so there's that. and as far as the battery, yes, the 3+6cell option is what I meant. You might want to read up on the Power-Bridge technology to understand why they call it 3+3, 3+6, etc. Its a cool feature. P.N.T.M. fucked around with this message at 09:29 on Nov 30, 2013 |
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Nov 30, 2013 09:14
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Lakitu7 posted:The workplace is very strongly Windows. The other folks with Apples pay a hefty tax in software support headaches I don't want to deal with, and honestly I'm just not much a fan, though I totally acknowledge that people are justified in telling me to buy MBA with what I said. Chromebooks and Android Tablets with keyboards would definitely be the way to cheap out, but I've already got an android phone and android tablet and they're lovely for consuming media but don't feel right to me for a business machine. This time around I'm more looking to get something nice than cheap out, I guess, so long as I'm not being ripped off. Sony Vaio Pro? They come in 11" and 13", both have a 1080p screen, Windows, super thin and light.
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Nov 30, 2013 13:38
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P.N.T.M. posted:If you have two tabs open, each on a different configuration page (e.g. T430 and T430s), and you start fiddling with the config in the second tab, when you return to the first tab to configure you will notice the config list will change to mirror that of the second tab. The altered tab times out if you try to add it to the cart. It sounds like you just had that happen to you. Well that explains a lot. I definitely was fiddling with them both in different tabs, and it liked to time out while doing so, but I assumed that was just the site getting slammed by black Friday. I did order a 440s (with the FHD and 9-cell upgrades) because those "limited stock available" words were making me nervous. Hopefully the config I made doesn't include something that shouldn't be there. Thanks!
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Nov 30, 2013 16:57
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I was deliberating about the T540/530 choice for my mom, but with minimal upgrades to both (extended battery, 1920x1080 screen, and best wifi), the t530 actually costs more right now. Not much of a choice at that point.
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Nov 30, 2013 17:39
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Ugh, I think the RAM slot on my T440s is dead. I bought a Mushkin 8GB stick which matches the specs (DDR3 1600 8x1) and plugged it in and BIOS just shows the onboard 4096MB. I returned that and bought a Kingston 8x1 DDR3 1600 and BIOS still only shows the original 4096. It's as if it doesn't recognize the additional memory slot at all. Guess it's time to see just how good Lenovo's warranty services are edit: Oh wait, I've been buying DDR3 and this thing says it needs DDR3L. One loving letter could make all the difference  I guess it makes sense, right? If DDR3L requires only like 1.3v to power and this is 1.5v DDR3 then it's probably not getting enough power to initialize I guess? Eugh. Guess it's time to be "that guy" and return yet another perfectly good stick of DDR3 
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Nov 30, 2013 18:07
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Lakitu7 posted:I did order a 440s Martytoof posted:edit: Oh wait, I've been buying DDR3 and this thing says it needs DDR3L. One loving letter could make all the difference Also: Before it happens to you, Lenovo has a really aggravating ETA system. They are documented in this thread as first highballing the date, then they'll give you an estimate for much sooner, before finally changing to a middle-ground estimate. The actual date of arrival is within 2 days of the final ETA. It's frustrating, but it should arrive within a month. EDIT: Yes, DDR3L and 1.35v are synonymous. AFAIK, the L stands for Low Voltage. As far as RAM, go with your best judgement on that. Kingston is an good name, and that stick has a warranty included, all good things. P.N.T.M. fucked around with this message at 21:42 on Nov 30, 2013 |
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Nov 30, 2013 20:28
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I only vaguely kicked around buying more RAM. For now I don't think I'll need it, but I did run across a post by somebody else someplace who got burned on the 1.35v / DDR3L thing (1.35v and DDR3L are synonymous here right?), so if it comes to that I know to be careful. Are the good/bad memory brands for laptops basically the same as for desktops? I'd probably look at this Kingston. That's almost half what Lenovo wanted to charge for 4gb I think. Good to know about the ETA, thanks. They're estimating a not-too-unreasonable Dec 17th, so a little over 2 weeks. If it shows up a little before then I'm happy.
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Nov 30, 2013 21:15
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I'm looking at getting a laptop from Lenovo, and I vaguely remember reading something about the keyboards being always the English/French type for Canadians. Is this true? Because I hate those drat keyboards and really don't want one of those.
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Nov 30, 2013 22:58
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I think I've talked myself into getting a Thinkpad Yoga. Anyone want to talk me out of it or into something else? I'm replacing a 6-year old Dell M1330, which is actually still doing everything I want a laptop to do and, since I put an SSD in it, doesn't even feel that slow. However the screen now dies at random intervals and the (already once replaced) battery is giving up the ghost. Time for something new. I bought the M1330 because I needed a laptop for university so didn't want anything bigger than 13.3". It is pretty much the perfect size, in my opinion. However, I have long since graduated and now use my laptop largely for sitting on the couch and wasting time on the internet. I guess I'm not tied to any particular form factor, but I would like the ability to travel with it, and anything over 14" is out of the question. I want to get something Lenovo, preferably today as they're having a decent Cyber Monday sale here (New Zealand). The two models that appeal are the T440S and the Thinkpad Yoga. The Yoga 2 Pro looks even more tempting, but it's not available in NZ. I'm half-annoyed and half-relieved by that, as it sounds like it's a bit of a succubus - unbelievably sexy but plagued with potentially very annoying issues (yellows, wifi). Anyway it's off the table, as is anything with a TN panel or 1366x768 (X240). These are the configs for the T440S and the Thinkpad Yoga I'd be looking at: T440S ($1,702.12) code:code:So the T440S is more robust and, truth be told, I'd probably prefer the 14" screen to the 12.5" on the Yoga. The M1330's 13.3" screen is 16:10, so I feel like the drop to 12.5" 16:9 might feel more significant than it looks on paper. The T440s also has a slightly gruntier CPU (the only upgrade option for the Yoga is the 4500U for $303, which does not seem at all worth it). But, it's a premium, reinforced, business-class laptop, and I'm really just going to be sitting on my rear end on the couch. The Yoga's tablet mode seems a little bit awkward but I can see it being useful for just wasting time on Youtube or whatever, or casual Steam games, and I've always kind of wanted a Wacom tablet for photo editing. On the other hand, the sealed battery makes me nervous. The battery on my old laptop was scrap metal after two years, but the rest of the laptop kept on kicking for another four. Are newer batteries more resilient, or will this thing really have a lifespan of just 2-3 years? I'm also just finding it surprisingly difficult to decide between a traditional laptop and a trendy fusion-type device. All said and done I think the Yoga's the laptop for me, but is there anything I'm missing? Any owners of either model have any thoughts?
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Nov 30, 2013 23:29
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Blame Canada, I'm pretty sure it's just the law there. Also don't worry about the numpad, they don't cause any of the other keys to be undersized, that's not an actual reality-based belief when it comes to the T540p, and on machines where it does it's only a problem for people that spastically hit the right side of the keys there. The main keyboard being offcenter is also only a problem for OCD types. Gosh the textarea on this SA forum posting interface is off-center too, my computing experience has been ru-ined.
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Nov 30, 2013 23:30
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It depends on which laptop you get. My T440s just comes with the US keyboard.
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Nov 30, 2013 23:37
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NIGARS posted:I think I've talked myself into getting a Thinkpad Yoga. Anyone want to talk me out of it or into something else? I'm looking at the NZ Lenovo site right now any it looks like the T440p is a killer deal - $1,316.22 with the 1080p screen and backlit keyboard options. Definitely heavier/bulkier though
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Dec 1, 2013 00:40
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dissss posted:I'm looking at the NZ Lenovo site right now any it looks like the T440p is a killer deal - $1,316.22 with the 1080p screen and backlit keyboard options. It's such a brick! It'd be a great deal if I actually needed a laptop with power, but I have a nice desktop with two monitors I use for any tasks that require heavy lifting. I need something that'll actually live in my lap, and will preferably slip pretty easily into a satchel if I need to take it somewhere. Considering I'm fairly happy with the performance of my old laptop (Core 2 Duo/2GB), it doesn't seem right to get something physically bigger with power I don't need.
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Dec 1, 2013 00:49
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P.N.T.M. posted:
My first date was in 2014 and my second is in 2015, so I hope I get a laptop within the next six months.
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Dec 1, 2013 01:30
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Mike From Nowhere posted:My first date was in 2014 and my second is in 2015, so I hope I get a laptop within the next six months. Holy poo poo, what did you order? Edit: Looked up your post, Yoga 2 Pro...there must be some major shortage of parts for an estimate like that. Have you called them up yet? P.N.T.M. fucked around with this message at 02:42 on Dec 1, 2013 |
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Dec 1, 2013 01:46
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Hadlock posted:1. I generally recommend a Thinkpad, they generally have expressports I generally thank you Hadlock!  <-- incidentally that's what I'm recording and why I need the firewire. My home PC has integrated firewire and the Presonus worked on the first start up. Unlike the Dell laptop which turned out to be a complete lemon for audio/video even though it billed itself as one. I found out the month after my warranty ran out that it had a design flaw / hardware bottle neck that rendered it useless to even record one mono channel of audio. But that was like 6-7 years ago and I know folks have more or less moved on from Ye Olde Firewire so that's why I was asking.And thanks for the info to the rest of you guys who answered. I have literally, not once, never ever touched Win 8 and pretty much heard nothing but bad things about it. And I didn't know anything about the 8.1 pack or the reversion away from Metro. Again  guys.
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Dec 1, 2013 02:25
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Is there any way to make the "middle click" on the X240 track point work like an actual middle click instead of just a stupid mousewheel emulation? It works right if I don't have the drivers installed but then I can't adjust the palm detection so it registers a lot of mis-clicks when I use the track point. I saw a thread on the Lenovo forums which suggested rolling back to an older driver version (not an option for the X240), using a registry hack (which made the middle mouse button act completely erratically) and using a third-party program (TPMiddle) which doesn't seem to do anything. It's super annoying that I can't use it to open new tabs in my browser.
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Dec 1, 2013 04:13
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P.N.T.M. posted:Holy poo poo, what did you order? Yoga 2 Pro, and I'm gonna call them tomorrow or on Monday, because that is a fair bit ridiculous. I used the employee pricing program for Canada listed in the OP. Will they give me any grief over that considering I am not an employee?
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Dec 1, 2013 07:10
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Is it just me or does the  B&N site not work with firefox?edit: oh wait maybe adblock is making GBS threads things up edit part 2; hunting and escaping: I'm noticing the majority of these laptops on here say "Up to Windows 8 Pro" - I'm assuming the 8.1 is a free upgrade/patch via MSoft? I hope. Duke Chin fucked around with this message at 11:00 on Dec 1, 2013 |
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Dec 1, 2013 10:52
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Well, I tried to buy a Yoga 2 Pro at Best Buy (only $1200 for the i7/8GB/256GB version! — that's supposed to go for $1500!), but they were completely out. However, Lenovo's own site has the same deal. Unfortunately, they inexplicably only offer that model in "clementine orange". So, I have a couple questions: one, is this a once-in-a-blue-moon kind of deal that I should worry about jumping on right now? And two, to those of you on this thread who've bought the Yoga 2, in real life is the orange model okay, or is it obnoxiously ORANGE?
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Dec 1, 2013 10:52
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