Post: #51

Lenovo is Chinese crap from a company partly owned by the Chinese government. So in addition to the cheapness I would worry about hardware embedded malware, In light of the massive hacking campaign the Chinese army has been carrying out against the west. Furthermore, they do what Dell did in the early 2000's by boosting the specs on one or two things like processor then getting the cheapest peripheral parts they can find. MacBook air is a bad comparison, as it's like the net books for macs. Any Lenovo or windows based PC laptop comes nowhere near a MacBook pro. Why compromise, it's a weeks wages.

Edit: I've purchased Lenovos before and can speak from first hand experience

Post: #52

So millions of U.S. and international employees are running around with their Thinkpads with embedded Chinese government malware and one day, very very soon, the Chinese will flip a switch and render our entire global workforce economy useless? Please.

I'm still open to a mac, but bring some better arguments. Tell me about the pros of the unibody, the retina screen, lack of viruses (although that's never been a problem for me, getting them or removing them), or the superiority of the OS.

The industry isn't ignoring the fact that some PCs are catching up to macs in terms of built quality, sleekness, performance, and coming in with a little more bang for your buck, hence all the positive reviews of laptops like the carbon, and the side by side comps with mac products.

What this means is that it changes the equation for people like me who prefer PCs (and have PC files and PC external hard drives, etc.) and who now may decide to stick with a PC and not make the switch due to there being comparable PC products available.

Post: #53

(06-05-2013 03:49 PM)Van Zandt Wrote:  Lenovo is Chinese crap...

Hey. Crap sells. Look at McDonald's.

But seriously, I get your points; I accept most of them as true.

Post: #54

I've had an ACER net book for over 4 years and it is perfect for travelling. It was $400 then, so you could probably get something equivalent much cheaper now. Not catastrophic if you lose it. I hate pads for typing, but honestly evaluate what you need it for. Computers keep getting upgraded, but honestly computers 15 years ago really did everything I needed. Emails, songs/movies, skype, booking flights and hotels.

Post: #55

Here's links to product comparisons from Asus and Samsung:

http://www.asus.com/us/Compare/


http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/laptops/compare

Ultrabooks are expensive, and I noticed on the Samsung's I compared they were limited to 4gb of RAM. That's not good. This is becoming harder than I thought, with staying around a 14" screen and under $1K.

And why the fuck are these companies putting touchscreens on laptops? Really?

Post: #56

I got an Asus 1015E yesterday. I installed FreeBSD. I love it. It cost $250. If it breaks I'll just a new one.

Post: #57

(06-18-2013 02:30 AM)Latenight Wrote:  I got an Asus 1015E yesterday. I installed FreeBSD. I love it. It cost $250. If it breaks I'll just a new one.

Where did you buy it?

Post: #58

(06-18-2013 02:15 PM)Samseau Wrote:  

(06-18-2013 02:30 AM)Latenight Wrote:  I got an Asus 1015E yesterday. I installed FreeBSD. I love it. It cost $250. If it breaks I'll just a new one.

Where did you buy it?

Got it from Newegg. Do a search for item #N82E16834230936. It's also on Amazon and other places.

I don't use it to play games or any heavy apps other than Open Office once in a while. It's for email/websurfing/IM/twitter/RSS feeds/etc. It can also play MP3's and movies without a problem.

I also got a Samsung SSD. I'm going to install it tomorrow.

Post: #59

Got an X1 3rd gen for $1k.

Intel Core i5-5200U Processor (3MB Cache, up to 2.70GHz)
Windows 8.1 64 - English
14.0" QHD (2560x1440) IPS with WWAN
8GB PC3-12800L on MB
Intel HD Graphics 5500
Keyboard Backlit - US English
With Fingerprint Reader
720p HD Camera
128GB Solid State Drive, Serial ATA
Rapid Charge, Integrated
65W AC Adapter - US (2pin)
Ethernet extension cable
Intel 7265 AC/B/G/N Dual Band Wireless + Bluetooth Version 4.0
Integrated Mobile Broadband upgradable
Publication - US English
Standard Economy Packaging
1 Year Depot or Carry-in

Post: #60

(06-05-2013 02:04 PM)presidentcarter Wrote:  

(05-29-2013 11:03 AM)presidentcarter Wrote:  I'll most likely get a Lenovo Carbon with the new Intel Haswell chip in June/July to carry abroad. The new chips come out June 3rd and will combine the processor and graphics chip, generating cost, space, and energy efficiency benefits.

Don't buy a computer until then.

Spoke with Lenovo support and they are now selling the 4th gen Intel chip in their Y410p and Y510p models (high perf. multimedia and gaming laptops). No other models have it yet. The X series carbon thinkpads won't have it for a few more months so that's out of the question now for me.

Looks like I'll have to just get the current model.

I like the X-series thinkpads in general. For connectivity nearly all the cullular USD internet sticks work on Windows and *nix. Also that look on the thicker thinkpads is hella theft resistant.

Post: #61

(06-05-2013 04:01 PM)presidentcarter Wrote:  So millions of U.S. and international employees are running around with their Thinkpads with embedded Chinese government malware and one day, very very soon, the Chinese will flip a switch and render our entire global workforce economy useless? Please.

I'm still open to a mac, but bring some better arguments. Tell me about the pros of the unibody, the retina screen, lack of viruses (although that's never been a problem for me, getting them or removing them), or the superiority of the OS.

The industry isn't ignoring the fact that some PCs are catching up to macs in terms of built quality, sleekness, performance, and coming in with a little more bang for your buck, hence all the positive reviews of laptops like the carbon, and the side by side comps with mac products.

What this means is that it changes the equation for people like me who prefer PCs (and have PC files and PC external hard drives, etc.) and who now may decide to stick with a PC and not make the switch due to there being comparable PC products available.

I really like my levovo X120e. I've put about as much into ti in new SSD and RAM as I paid for it new, there's also at least 3 generations of descendants released since I picked it up. Processor and GPU is more than fast enough for me as a portable machine though.

I will offer the caveat that i don't run Windows. I run OpenBSD and before that Ubuntu. I still have a hard drive with a Windows install I plug in occasionally for games. This machine runs Fallout 3 and Bioshock at least as well as an Xbox 360 while sipping power. As far as OS goes I'm not a zealot, pick whatever runs what you need.

Physically though I consider theft threat number one and a blocky thinkpad deters that. A refurbished recent thinkpad with a new battery and fan (these are the only real parts that wear) and an SSD will offer beautiful performance at a disposable price.