
ThinkPads 2020 - X13 AMD - X1 Nano? - fiji-flo
https://github.com/alanfox2000/realtek-universal-audio-driver/blob/master/ThirdParty/Dolby/20200211_dolbyapo_realtek/releasenotes_ext_realtek_lenovo_thinkpad.txt
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lostgame
ThinkPads make better MacBook Pros than Apple-official products - by far and
large.

I’ve got a 2017 MacBook Pro and a 2016 Lenovo ThinkPad and the ThinkPad runs
circles around it.

It’s also literally a hybrid drawing tablet laptop running MacOS - so
unimaginably useful as a creative - and something Apple doesn’t offer, unless
you want half-baked iOS software (no Illustrator, no Animate, no Blender) on
an iPad Pro.

Even if it wasn’t for that awful keyboard (went to the Apple Store, tried the
16” keyboard, still not impressed) - there’s a ton of other factors. (Not to
mention the ThinkPad keyboard is so tried and true my 2016’s keyboard is
nearly identical to my 1996 ThinkPad...)

From the awesome amount of ports, tablet/ink support (if your ThinkPad has
it), great battery life, native updates (I‘ve not had an issue with .x updates
on Mojave or Sierra/High Sierra), and about half the price for the equivalent
specs, it’s, IMHO, the literal best of both worlds. Even the build quality of
ThinkPad laptops is lovely.

I’ve never had a single issue with MacOS not running as well or significantly
better than the equivalent Apple hardware, with the exception of SSD write
speeds.

EDIT: Forgot to mention the #1 benefit - replaceable HDD/SSD and upgradable
RAM.

I will not, on principle, buy a computer whose hard drive I cannot remove with
a basic computing toolkit.

And I will also not, on principle, buy a computer that cannot be internally
upgraded.

The environmental impact alone is preposterous.

So what if you make your computers out of aluminum instead of plastic if you
_design_ them to have no future?

I think, specifically, of the ludicrously-limited 128GB SSD models of the
2016/2017 MacBook/Pro.

Using that, for basic development - (it was sadly what we were given at the
startup I was working at during the time) - was useless, by the time I put
Unity and XCode on it, and started making builds, I daily saw the ‘your hard
disk is almost full’ message - and what is there to do about that, except get
a whole brand new computer?

~~~
SahAssar
Do they still only have lackluster displays? Thinkpads maxed out at 1080p long
after other premium laptops offered 4k.

~~~
raz32dust
This. I tried using a Dell XPS and a Thinkpad as replacement to Macbook. But
had to return both because I just can't get used to any other display after
using Retina display, specially because the laptop is my TV as well.

~~~
VibrantClarity
The XPS and Thinkpads have both offered 4k for a few gens now. The real
question is when Apple will offer matte screens. I can't stand the glare on
the Macbook screens.

~~~
SahAssar
I don't think the current XPS:es have a matte screen option, last I checked
the only ones with matte and known brand names and professional specs where
thinkpads with low-res screens.

------
japhyr
I was feeling pulled back towards non-mac laptops for a variety of reasons,
but I think I just came up with a good strategy looking forward. If I were
just doing my own dev work, I'd probably have a well-specced thinkpad running
some version of linux. But I need to support people using all OSes, so I need
a mac. If I need a mac, I'd like that to be my only computer, and just run
windows and linux in VMs.

I got a 13" MacBook pro a couple years ago, when I started needing to support
mac users more consistently. I was on a budget, so I got an 8GB version. I
wanted to upgrade, so last fall I bought the last new 13" I could find online
that still had physical function keys, with 16GB ram. I was having trouble
running VMs effectively with the 8GB system. I would love to have 32GB ram,
but I don't want to go to a 15" or 16" laptop.

I thought I would sell my old 8GB laptop, but I found a really good use for
it. I work at home, and I have a multiple-monitor setup that's really nice to
do extended development work on. I don't like to disconnect my laptop if I
don't have to, but I want to work in other parts of the house sometimes. I
realized I could just use the older MacBook as a thin client when I'm not
doing memory-intensive work. It's been nice to be able to do more casual work
in other parts of the house.

That got me thinking, though - with this setup, there's no reason I need a
laptop to power the desktop setup. It's been over a decade since I've owned a
desktop computer, but I think I might buy a mac mini next time I upgrade, and
keep the 16GB laptop as a thin client around the house, and also have a decent
laptop to travel with.

Any thoughts on this approach?

~~~
speedgoose
The Mac mini is terribly overpriced. If you are going to replace your laptop
by a desktop computer, get a descent GPU. That's nice.

~~~
oneplane
How so? I have yet to find a cheaper system with that many Thunderbolt 3
ports.

If I didn't need macOS and Thunderbolt 3 then no, the Mac Mini makes no sense
at all.

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dm319
I know lots of people here need mac hardware, but it always surprises me just
how many fans of macs and macosx are here. For me Thinkpads combined with
linux is a great computing experience. I love the unification of package
updates and installation and being able to pick from several mature desktop
environments to suit your style of working. Thinkpads are pretty tough laptops
- they don't have quite the fit and finish of macbooks, but they more than
make for this in durability, usability and modularity.

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jrepinc
Can't wait to see those AMD ThinkPads and I sure hope they also have AMD
graphics.

~~~
nextos
The T495s is already AMD and quite good and cheap.

~~~
zelly
I use this. I like it. Upgraded the SSD and added the motherboard max of 32G
RAM. If you are using Linux on a laptop, you have a choice between dealing
with NVIDIA's proprietary garbage or bad integrated graphics. AMD GPU on a
laptop is a godsend.

~~~
kvark
Heh, I was hoping for the same, but in reality I get sleep issues quite often,
subpar battery life, and overall unpolished experience... on AMD with Ubuntu.

~~~
fladrif
Which AMD cpu was this? And what version of Ubuntu were you running?

~~~
kvark
It's with Ryzen 3500U on Ubuntu 19.10, no fancy configuration.

~~~
zelly
I'm using Fedora, haven't had any sleep problems. If you're using GNOME or
KDE, they are notorious for hijacking ACPI handling. Try "# systemctl suspend"
to rule out it being Linux's fault.

~~~
kvark
Wouldn't it be fun if you were basically saying "AMD support on Linux is
great, unless you are using GNOME or KDE"? :D

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newnewpdro
Don't get my hopes up for a return of the X40/X60 form factor

~~~
dman
I thought I was the only one pining for that!

~~~
voidmain0001
And I thought everyone wanted 4:3 except for the Macbook users...

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fiji-flo
Most likely some of the new ThinkPad models for 2020. Hopefully to be
announced next week during some MWC replacement event. Let's stay tuned.

------
calvinmorrison
Got my SO a E485 AMD ThinkPad for Christmas. It's slick! Battery life seems
fine, but the big kickers is not having Intel's onboard graphics, which just
can't keep up. My SO does casual gaming and the AMD graphics seem to be right
in the sweet spot for performance and their needs

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numpad0
X13? XTRA line started from X20/T20/A20m/R30. Before that was 3 digit like
600E or iSeries 4 digit like i1420. Doesn’t look like there’s so much room in
that number scheme.

------
lordleft
I love thinkpads but I wish one came with a decent mobile gaming gpu. I guess
that's not at all the audience the thinkpads are for though.

~~~
aortega
I have this on my P52

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GP107GLM [Quadro P2000
Mobile]

It's enough for most games. However buying a thinkpad for gaming is like
buying a Tank to do groceries.

~~~
blaser-waffle
+1

I did some decent Linux gaming on my T450 -- moderate settings and framerates
-- but ultimately they're work laptops.

~~~
panpanna
Anything is possible if you are desperate enough :)

I played (and finished) the first Witcher game on a x201.

------
macawfish
If this is a 2-in-1 laptop I'm there in a flash.

~~~
macawfish
Sadly, the 2-in1 version only has Intel ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

------
6d6b73
Hopefully they will have some Thinkpads with regular docking station not this
ridiculous cable based solution everyone is trying to push now.

~~~
eropple
Why is it "ridiculous" to use a 10Gbps (or 40Gbps if you're spendy) bus to
carry data?

'Cause I just sit down, plug _any_ of my laptops (all of which have USB-C in,
and everything just works. Windows, Linux, Macs (n.b.: this required a bit of
a hack because they don't support MST, but it's not a huge deal)--sit down,
go.

Vendor-locked lower-bandwidth docking ports are an antipattern.

~~~
6d6b73
Because I can lock my laptop to the docking station, because it can also
transfer power, and gives me access to many more ports than regular usb based
docking station has.. and back in the good ol' days you could have a docking
station with such ancient devices like cdrom and floppy - something that I
don't need to carry around, but would be nice if I could access while sitting
at my desk.

~~~
brtkdotse
USB-C transfers power as well.

Are you really using cds and floppies in the year of our lord 2020, or are you
just strawmanning?

~~~
pengaru
Burning cds/dvds is still a very convenient and dense affordable form of
offline storage for backups and/or content hoarding.

~~~
lostgame
Really? With the cost of SD cards what they are? Like, I can get a 128GB SD
card for $30.

That would be 170 CD’s - nearly 30 DVD’s - which will eventually suffer disc
rot.

DVD/CD write speeds are very slow, comparatively speaking to even USB 2.0
transfer speeds - and increasing the speed, in my experience, makes exact
copies of discs extremely error-prone.

Explain how this is efficient? Genuinely curious, with the price of solid
state storage these days.

(I understand even solid state storage has a shelf life, but at least it also
can’t be so easily harmed as a CD/DVD)

~~~
pengaru
SD cards are not intended for long-term archival purposes, not 10+ years. They
don't go bad per se, but the data on them may not be readable after slowly
discharging offline in cold storage for a decade or more.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_rot#In_storage](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_rot#In_storage)

------
Antoninus
Possibly the latest iteration of their portable desktop.
[https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/desktops-and-all-in-
ones/thinkc...](https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/desktops-and-all-in-
ones/thinkcentre/m-series-tiny/ThinkCentre-M90n-1/p/11TC1MNM93N)
[https://news.lenovo.com/pressroom/press-releases/lenovo-
unve...](https://news.lenovo.com/pressroom/press-releases/lenovo-unveils-new-
intelligent-devices-solutions-enterprise/)

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thinkpaddman
One of the DIMMs is soldered to the board on the latest T series. I give it a
generation or two before RAM is completely un-upgradable.

~~~
gokhan
My 450s from 2015 has one soldered, one free slot. So the trend actually is to
keep them that way.

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agumonkey
Also, maybe small ryzen can be used to retrofit older thinkpads :)

