Laptop Megathread: Your laptop doesn't have Haswell? More like Hasbeen~

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > Laptop Megathread: Your laptop doesn't have Haswell? More like Hasbeen~

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My early-2008 Thinkpad T61p finally gave up due to some nvidia flaw after over 5 years of faithful service :unsmith:

, but annoyingly a couple months before Haswell becomes widely available :rant:

.

Criteria for a replacement:

Not super concerned with price if the new machine can last a similar amount of time (5+ years). Replaceable battery would be pretty cool since that was what gave the T61p an extra lease on life when it was 2 years old. Price ceiling would probably be in the territory of $1600-$1800, anything beyond that feels ridiculous.
The T61p, equivalent to a current W-series, was a bit large/heavy in hindsight, and I'd prefer something in the range of 13"-14" (the magic balance of not being cramped while still being reasonably portable).
I really want dedicated pgup/pgdn/home/end on a reasonably good-feeling keyboard. I used those keys all the time on the T61p, as well as on my work-issued X230. I tried a Vaio Pro 13 in a Fry's and found its keyboard, particularly the arrow keys, to be way too spongy, so I guess I'm a bit of a keyboard snob now.
Resolution equal to or greater than the T61p's 1680x1050 would be pretty nice, though I guess everything's 16:9 nowadays. The aforementioned X230's 1366x768 is way too low.
I prefer matte displays, don't care about touchscreens, and am pretty annoyed that Microsoft (presumably) threw a bunch of money at Intel to get them shoehorned into the new Ultrabook requirements.
Battery life isn't a huge deal, albeit nice to have regardless. The laptop will honestly spend most of its life plugged into something. IGP should be sufficient as well.
It'll be running Linux, so system compatibility there is pretty important. This seems to be less of a concern nowadays, especially on an IGP system.

If I were buying something right now, the candidates would likely be, in order of preference:

A T431s, giving up on display quality/DPI and some portability.
A non-touchscreen X1, giving up on the replaceable battery.
An Acer Aspire S7, since they apparently also put dedicated pgup/pgdn keys in the arrow key area, not to mention the nicer screen resolution, albeit on a reflective touchscreen. Keyboard doesn't feel as nice though, and who knows how long the thing will live.

Anything else I should look at? Not in a huge rush/can hold out a couple months, it's just a mild inconvenience not having a personal laptop right now. I'm currently leaning heavily towards the T431s or its Haswell refresh, which I'm assuming(?) will happen in September/October or thereabouts.

# ¿ Jul 7, 2013 04:56

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# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 13:18

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movax posted:

I'd love the rMBP but as an EE who only has to dip into software rarely, the rMBP would spend most of its life in Windows, and I would really prefer a native windows keyboard (and the BIOS ability to swap Fn/Ctrl on ThinkPads).

FWIW I vaguely remember the best hardware reviewer mentioning that she got worse battery life/performance when running Apple hardware in Windows, so the super battery life may no longer apply if you aren't running OSX.

# ¿ Jul 7, 2013 05:16

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Duck and Cover posted:

Shutup my Samsung Ativ Book 9 Plus Platinum Edition is going to be the bee's knees.

Plus Platinum Silver Anodized All Access Extreme Convertible Graphite Edition With Beats By Dre Personal Premium Pro For Professional Home Users

# ¿ Jul 7, 2013 08:06

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Surely the exclusivity deal doesn't require Lenovo to only put their Haswell allocation into plastic poo poo?

# ¿ Jul 7, 2013 08:12

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Astr00 posted:

I am waiting for reviews (and price where I live) to decide between the Book 9 Plus and the new Macbook Air.

I'm wondering how well the 9+ will handle graphics at that resolution with an IGP. Are there any benchmarks of any Haswell IGPs at the 9+'s resolution?

Mu Zeta posted:

That's not even their stupidest name.

eh, it doesn't matter, nobody's gonna see or buy that anyway

# ¿ Jul 7, 2013 23:38

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That's only a month away yo (yeah this year's been going quick for me too)

# ¿ Jul 8, 2013 02:31

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SoggyGravy posted:

Nothing about that laptop compared to others seems to scream at me 1600+ USD

It has a 3200x1800 display. They apparently decided to hide this information with a secret "QHD+" code.

# ¿ Jul 8, 2013 04:53

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On my T61p I rarely used the nub, but I did eventually enable/use the "tap to click" function. While using the nub, would your thumb be in a good position to tap the pad to click?

Also I'm pretty sold on that T440s. Did prior Thinkpads have this thing?:

Power Bridge Battery
The standard configuration of T440s includes (2) 3-cell batteries, one internal and one swappable. Power Bridge allows you to swap the rear battery without powering down your system. This is much needed for long flights or travelers who are away from power sources for an extended period of time.

Seems like a bit overkill for how rarely I'd be removing the battery.

Edit add: They mention "optional multitouch" for the display, so maybe they found a way around Intel requiring touchscreens for Ultrabook(TM)s, if anyone's like me and prefers matte. Or maybe they just found the world's worst 14" single-point touchscreen.

Progressive JPEG fucked around with this message at 04:03 on Jul 9, 2013

# ¿ Jul 9, 2013 03:55

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My work laptop is an x230, but I have a privacy screen on it all the time, so IPS (or good display quality in general) would be completely wasted on it.

# ¿ Jul 9, 2013 06:26

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If its passworded on resume then presumably they'd try to reboot. Or just refrain from leaving it lying around imo

# ¿ Jul 25, 2013 07:04

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Delta-Wye posted:

If it's on, there is key material in memory:

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/security/cryogenically-frozen-ram-bypasses-all-disk-encryption-methods/900

Yeah, if something's actually that sensitive it really shouldn't be on a laptop

# ¿ Jul 25, 2013 07:49

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QuarkJets posted:

There are many government agencies and corporations that disagree. If you just encrypt your hard drive then that's probably fine

Yeah this would be in the context of an encrypted drive. If you're worried about someone tapping your ram on top of that then your data is likely too sensitive to be mobile.

# ¿ Jul 25, 2013 15:29

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In linux land theres luksSuspend/luksResume, but its usage appears to be pretty rare outside of DIY, likely due to the reasons given by DrDork. The intersection of data that should ever be on a laptop and data that is sensitive enough to warrant worrying about frozen ram is presumably zero.

# ¿ Jul 26, 2013 16:35

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Hadlock posted:

Samsung ATIV Book 9 Plus is announced for August 18th (next saturday)

Debating whether I could live with what I'd assume would be really short key travel and glossy screen. Looks really nice otherwise.

# ¿ Aug 11, 2013 06:57

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Hadlock posted:

I can't remember the last time I closed a window, I generally keep 40+ chrome tabs open and I'm rocking 4.95GB/8.00GB consumed at the moment.

FWIW I've been using 4GB for years and haven't had any problem with lots of expensive things being open at once. I'm on reenix and don't even bother with a swap partition anymore. The only times I've had something approach 100% usage have been due to ridiculous memory leaks of my own creation.
On the linux side of things, free memory is wasted memory, so it tends to get "used" for caches and such, then immediately freed whenever something has a need for it. I'd imagine chrome/ff to follow a similar model but don't really know.

But all that said, I'd probably still get 8GB for a new laptop, just to reduce the likelihood of theoretical problems in several years.
And hey that extra memory means more blocks cached.

# ¿ Aug 27, 2013 05:12

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If you're in Australia and you're thinking of getting a T440s, this thinks they'll be available in "October".

Not seen anything for here in the states of course :smith:

# ¿ Aug 30, 2013 08:34

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I just tap to click :shrug:

# ¿ Aug 31, 2013 05:31

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Boner Slam posted:

the reviews of the T440s (which is apparently now the top-of-the-line Thinkpad) call the durability into question

What reviews are those?

# ¿ Sep 3, 2013 16:43

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Is the keyboard unbearably shallow or not too bad? Does the display resolution hurt performance for casual use?

# ¿ Sep 13, 2013 23:32

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shrughes posted:

secondarily because of the 16:10 screen.

yet the 16:9 still has more vertical resolution

# ¿ Sep 16, 2013 01:17

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Yeah if you're strictly deciding between those two I wouldn't get the Sony either tbh. My powerbook in college was unreliable garbage but it was at least a straightforward process when it needed fixing. (I've heard apple's gotten better about reliability now fwiw)

I'm personally holding out for the T440s, as I really like thinkpad keyboards and my T61p held out for 5.5 years of regular commuting/transport before finally giving up to some nvidia chipset issue.

# ¿ Sep 16, 2013 03:04

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Jeffrey posted:

What do you all think of the chiclet keyboards, are they as nice to type on as the old switches? Part of the reason I can't stomach other laptop-makers is that the keyboards are mushy crap, is Lenovo still the best in that department?

I have a work-issued x230. I think the keyboard is as good or better than the one on my t61p. I don't care for the x230's bumps on the touchpad though

# ¿ Oct 2, 2013 17:44

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Vinlaen posted:

Hmmm, any idea how fast they run? (for example, Syndicate or maybe the original X-Com?)

Should be able to try it in a normal chrome install to at least see how well it works, though that may not be much help in seeing how good the performance would be on a chromebook.

# ¿ Oct 12, 2013 14:12

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JustJeff88 posted:

I would kind of like to have a Blu-Ray player but I don't want the SSD [...]. Am I missing something and it's actually possible to do a more custom build?

FWIW I think you're the only person, online or offline, I've ever heard saying they wanted a Blu-ray drive in a laptop*. They might just not be that common beyond people who want the highest spec of everything, which would imply the SSD.

* But computer hardware isnt a frequent topic of discussion for me so maybe I'm just in a wonderful bubble here

Progressive JPEG fucked around with this message at 05:33 on Oct 13, 2013

# ¿ Oct 13, 2013 05:31

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Martytoof posted:

Maybe I'm just being nitpicky but I am really put off by the Windows logo hard-printed on the display bezel. I'm not anti-Windows or anything, but I really wish they hadn't included it on there. I wonder how much Microsoft paid for that.

Really glad that the T440 won't come branded like that.

Never understood anyone who left those windows/intel/amd stickers on their laptop beyond the first day or so

# ¿ Oct 13, 2013 20:24

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Aphrodite posted:

This one isn't a sticker. It's part of the bezel, and it's a touch key for Start.

yeah just sayin in general

# ¿ Oct 13, 2013 22:14

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Inspector_71 posted:

Those things are usually stuck way the hell on there, and it would be a lot more trouble to take them off than just ignore them.

Usually you can just rip off the sticker, which typically leaves half the adhesive on the sticker and half on the laptop. Repeatedly press the two adhesive bits together and pull/tear them apart until the remaining laptop adhesive is pulled off onto the sticker's adhesive. It only takes like 10s total.

spergin about laptop stickers dot txt

# ¿ Oct 14, 2013 02:49

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hayden. posted:

Chrome Books seem like the perfect choice for people who don't know how to computer. Virtually no chance of breaking, crashing, getting viruses, or slowing it down by installing stupid crap. Plus they're dirt cheap, way under your budget.

Seconding a chromebook as a great choice for anyone's non-technical relatives.

# ¿ Oct 28, 2013 05:02

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Looks like all three T440's (T440, T440p, T440s) are now on the B&N site as well, with a discount of 15% or so off the sticker price. Estimated ship dates are Nov 19th or thereabouts.

Lesson learned: Don't assume something's coming out "soon"; things can apparently be announced in July to be released in November. I'm just glad I soon won't be using my N7 as a stand-in for my busted laptop anymore.

# ¿ Oct 29, 2013 17:19

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I *think* the 6-cell adds a lump on the bottom surface, so even worse than coming out the back

aaaand the store's down

# ¿ Oct 29, 2013 17:51

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Ordered T440s with minimum ram/cpu/disk, adding FHD display and Intel AC wireless. :toot:

# ¿ Oct 29, 2013 19:40

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Doctor rear end in a top hat posted:

That's pretty much what I was planning on getting, plus the OS upgrade. Did you up the battery? I want it to be thin/light but I also want more than 6 hours of runtime.

I went with the base battery; from previous computering history I've found I mostly tend to just use laptops while they're plugged in anyway. I also got a spare AC adapter (which apparently also gets a B&N discount).

Mu Zeta posted:

You guys spending $1,000+ on laptops without even reading reviews are nuts.

It's been out for a while overseas, there's a couple reviews out.

# ¿ Oct 29, 2013 21:02

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The spare AC adapter I ordered has shipped, but the T440s itself is estimated to ship Nov 20 :argh:

# ¿ Oct 30, 2013 22:15

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gman14msu posted:

So I received an email this morning saying my T440s has shipped. The Lenovo order status website doesn't appear to be working, but last I checked my estimated shipping date was November 20th. So, as usual, the estimated shipping dates mean nothing. UPS doesn't have the tracking information up yet. Any idea where they ship from and what estimated delivery time typically is?

Same. On Friday or thereabouts I vaguely remember a shipping date of the 8th or so on the site. Since then I've just been getting a sweet throwback to win3.1 or thereabouts:

I ordered a spare AC adapter which was mailed separately. It was shipped "UPS 3 Day Select" from Greensboro NC on Oct 30th and was delivered (in the SF Bay Area) today.

# ¿ Nov 4, 2013 18:37

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Nevermind that ac adapter shipping example. Looks like the laptop itself is shipping entirely differently, as "UPS Worldwide Expedited"

# ¿ Nov 4, 2013 19:42

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I think the shipping 'issues' have just been the predicted ship date bouncing around, presumably due to pessimism in their predictions to avoid missing an estimate. Once it's gotten a tracking number you should be golden. In my case the Lenovo site originally said it wouldn't ship until the 20th, then the 8th, but it's now in UPS' hands and should be delivered Friday/the 8th.

# ¿ Nov 6, 2013 17:19

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# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 13:18

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I'm pretty curious what sort of "potential" job in Antarctica only has 2 weeks notice

# ¿ Nov 7, 2013 04:42

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > Laptop Megathread: Your laptop doesn't have Haswell? More like Hasbeen~