If I read dmidecode correctly, I'm writing this on a laptop from 2013, which remains not only fully functional but which has high enough specs that I don't even see it struggling for quite some time. When I someday get another laptop, it's likely to be from eBay, and I would very much like to know what the best laptops were 3-5 years ago. Being from 2019 is important context, but it's not disqualifying.
I used to be the same, rocking a late 2013 MacBook Pro. I then bought a Radeon 5000 series and put it in and old PC I had lying around (Xeon E5-2667 v2, Q3'13 according to ark.intel.com).
I was amazed at how well they kept up, and even how they were faster than my 2018-2019 work laptop (an 8th gen i5u-something) when comparing Rust build times.
Then I got a new one with a Zen 3 (5650u) in December. Man, it feels sooo smooth and snappy when compared to the older computers. And I'm running Linux/i3, so nothing that requires fancy graphics or anything. What's shocking, is that the other computers never felt slow, laggy or struggling.
However, this laptop is an absolute steaming PoS on multiple other aspects (chief amongst which a broken BIOS and absurdly bad screen), so I would absolutely not recommend it.
> Then I got a new one with a Zen 3 (5650u) in December. Man, it feels sooo smooth and snappy when compared to the older computers.
> However, this laptop is an absolute steaming PoS on multiple other aspects (chief amongst which a broken BIOS and absurdly bad screen), so I would absolutely not recommend it.
I think you meant to argue that new hardware can be good, but that's really not the conclusion I walked away with.
My point was that there have been noticeable improvements in computing power. I wouldn't recommend this particular model, but it's likely that an equivalent ThinkPad would be an all round much better experience and have the same performance, or maybe even better.
This particular new laptop is a "business" series, so it tries to look fancy, but it's just cheap crap sold at a high markup. I have older models at work, and they have all failed in various ways. They're barely moved outside the office, too, so it's not like I beat on them all day every day. It's a line I would never recommend to anyone under any circumstance, be it new or old. But it is fast.
My general opinion, though, is that instead of buying cheap models often, it's usually much better to buy nicer, "higher-end" models less often, at least as far as perception is concerned, especially if you don't have anything (new) to compare it to. This can afford better "peripherals", such as a screen, keyboard, silence, etc., which cheaper models tend to never have.
