
More Lenovo woes: security flaws, website clerical errors, maybe layoffs - ulrikrasmussen
http://www.computerworld.com/article/2920983/malware-vulnerabilities/more-lenovo-woes-3-security-flaws-website-clerical-errors-maybe-layoffs.html#tk.rss_all
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drzaiusapelord
This isn't a Lenovo issue, its a larger Windows OEM issue. HP, Dell, and the
rest are guilty of the same sins. When is Microsoft finally going to reign
these guys in? I'd love an Apple-like experience of just booting up into a
standard OS and not worrying about various faddish and profit seeking
applications pre-installed on my machine. If MS wants to make Win10 the next
XP, they need to control these OEM's.

Chinese acquisitions of US tech companies rarely works out. They just two very
different business cultures. Sadly, Lenovo also bought Motorola's mobile
division, so we can expect more of this treatment with the next batch of
Motorola phones. The same way they ruined the thinkpad brand - they'll ruin
the Moto brand.

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allenbrunson
"control these OEM's?" it was Microsoft who created this mess. they were
executing everybody's favorite business maxim, "commoditize your complements."
Microsoft is the only company providing the operating system, which runs on an
army of undifferentiated PCs, where the manufacturers can only compete on
price. of COURSE they're reduced to shady behavior like this. they have no
other way to make money, because Microsoft thinks all the profit in the entire
ecosystem should be theirs.

if they try to "reign in the OEMs," then there will be no profit left at all
for them. at that point, they might as well get into some other line of
products altogether: netbooks, android phones, etc

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drzaiusapelord
>where the manufacturers can only compete on price.

I find this hard to believe and seems to be an excuse for modifications like
these (this excuse is quite common in Android). Quality of components, design,
battery life/capacity, screen size/dpi, brand, reputation, support quality,
etc mean a lot more to Jane Computerbuyer than a slew of Lenovo shit apps she
has no idea how to use and probably never will.

>it was Microsoft who created this mess.

Actually it was the Department of Justice that created this mess.

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allenbrunson
... and yet, here we are! if there was this huge market that you are positing
that exists, anxious to buy PCs and laptops based on battery life, screen
quality, etc, then there would be companies building products to soak up their
money. but there is _not_ such a market, apart from a few people like you who
hang out on technical message boards, not nearly numerous enough to support
such a thing.

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pjc50
This is bizarre. PCs and laptops are very much differentiated on quality and
specs - it's just that the margin is competed away. The only way to maintain
margin is to de-commodify, either by market differentiation (brand building)
or barriers to entry. Apple have done extremely well at both.

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allenbrunson
... so apparently we are in rabid agreement? i was speaking specifically about
the _microsoft_ ecosystem, not about anything capable of running a general-
purpose operating system. i am myself typing this on an apple laptop. i
haven't participated in the microsoft ecosystem for decades, and this is one
of the reasons.

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pjmlp
I miss the old IBM Thinkpad quality....

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tenfingers
How does the current Lenovo Thinkpad line fares? I've seen a couple of devices
recently and they look solidly built with above-average quality overall. But I
didn't own any recently (my last Thinkpad was from IBM), so I cannot comment
about details.

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pjmlp
The plastic has a lower quality feel to it compared with the old IBMs.

For example, in some areas close to the keyboard you can make it bend by
applying a little pressure.

On the T440p you can somehow notice the screen matrix.

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Daishiman
I disagree that the flexing is an issue. According to several computer techs
the flexing is good, since it means the material is less likely to crack under
stress.

I certainly feel the Thinkpads of yore had a more visually attractive
material, but I've recently bought a Thinkpad x250 and frankly the quality is
as good as always. Better, in fact, than the x240, in which several very bad
decisions were taken.

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asillystory
How do you like the chiclet keyboard?

I'm still holding onto my x220 for dear life.

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Daishiman
Surprisingly, I'm not hating it. Considering that the x250 is pretty small,
they have less displacement than other keyboards (coming from a T410), but
it's full size, the grip is good, and the feedback is better than prior
versions. The Trackpoint is laid deeper and lower than the T series, but I
adjusted in the day. The click buttons don't protrude as much as older
versions and I still haven't adjusted.

There are minor changes in keyboard coming from the T series. Insert has been
bound to Fn + End (which is alright; I've never really used it), and the upper
row is now Home/End/Delete. It's a different layout but I can't say it's
worse. The light from above has been changed to an illuminated keyboard, which
I find just as good and pretty spiffy.

The new trackpad feels, to me, perfectly sized very usable, and a decent
replacement for the trackpoint if you're just browsing the web and not typing.

I bought a refurbished machine that has the HD IPS touchscreen, and it's been
nice. It responds very well to touch and is much brighter than I would ever
need. Certainly the touch functionality is not something you use every day,
but for some occasions it's useful, and I'm already looking at some
alternative skins in some DJing software to work from there in some situations
and replace an external controller with just an additional sound card.

As a person that's been lugging around a T series on his backpack practically
every day for the past 10 years, the lighter weight is a very welcome
addition, the processor performance is satisfying, and the screen very
readable despite the compromise in space. I'm really enjoying the lower weight
and I personally think it's a gorgeous machine. I think there's less visible
external parts and reminds me more of the first Thinkpads, with a very
minimalist blocky feel.

My only critiques are that I wish it had an additional USB port (it has 2; 3
would be really nice), that the trackpoint were laid a couple millimeters
higher (I know it's impossible because there's barely any room for the screen,
but a man can dream), that modern software was better with HiDPI displays, and
that the aspect ratio were taller, but the tradeoffs are easily justify the
lighter weight, extra comfort, and screen quality, without sacrificing the
input methods, which are the real reason why I buy and have used Thinkpads for
the past 18 years. I'm a strong believer that Thinkpad + Trackpoint + Vim is
the most productive input method for coding man has ever invented, and no
trackpad will ever be a satisfactory replacement.

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creshal
> Considering that the x250 is pretty small, they have less displacement than
> other keyboards (coming from a T410)

The irony is that until the 40/50, X and T series had the same keyboards – an
X201 and T400 used the same keyboard, as did the X220/T410/T420 and X230/T430.
The form factor (which also didn't change from the X220/X230, i.e. same space
available for the keyboard as on a T410) is _not_ a justification for
crippling the keyboard.

> There are minor changes in keyboard coming from the T series.

The new T series has almost the same layout, it merely retains the Insert key
(while its usefulness for most users is debatable, Lenovo ties it to the Fn
switch on the X250 – it's either End + ACPI hotkeys or Insert+Function keys,
annoying).

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lessthunk
it's popular to bash Lenovo, but isn't all of Windows crappy like that?

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Cuuugi
Theres a certain irony about complaining about issues in past version of an
update software.

