{"id":17751,"date":"2020-06-07T14:16:03","date_gmt":"2020-06-07T13:16:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.davidbosman.fr\/en\/?p=17751"},"modified":"2023-12-07T12:16:55","modified_gmt":"2023-12-07T11:16:55","slug":"this-is-my-new-old-laptop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.davidbosman.fr\/en\/?p=17751","title":{"rendered":"This is my new-old laptop"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since the beginning of the lockdown, my brand-new-but-broken Mac has been stuck at the repair shop and I\u2019ve been using an old hand-me-down T420 ThinkPad as my main computer.<\/p>\n

I had to replace its slow hard disk with a faster SSD, I had lying around, and the laptop needed a good cleaning but it was in perfect working condition and, despite its age (2011), it runs incredibly well. Be it under Linux Ubuntu or Manjaro but also, mind you, under Windows 10 Pro. I don\u2019t know what magic the devs at Microsoft have recently done to Windows, but it feels great to use it on this 2011 laptop (it even feels snappier than Ubuntu).<\/p>\n

So, I used this ThinkPad for the whole lockdown and what I expected to be a temporary workaround turned out to be such a satisfying experience that, now that the lockdown is over here in Paris, I haven\u2019t yet checked with the store to see if I could come to grab my Mac. I have not missed it once. <\/i><\/p>\n

What I have done since the end of the lockdown, though, is to purchase the ThinkPad X220, the T420 little and lighter brother.<\/p>\n

It was released the same year as the T420 was; it uses the same CPU (2nd Gen Core i5 2520M), the same ram (up to 16 DDR3, 8Gb officially) and, more important to me, the exact same keyboard as the T420, but in a smaller package. And it runs as great under Windows, or Linux.<\/p>\n

Me liking the ThinkPad does not come as a total surprise. I owned an X220 back then, in 2011, when it was brand new. And the X200, prior to that. So, I knew I liked them, but I had forgotten how much<\/i>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The keyboard is a joy to use. Great travel, great feeling (no wobbly keys), all keys feeling the same and sounding <\/i>the same, with great feedback\u2014not mushy, while not too noisy\u2014and it\u2019s offering the right keys where you need them. I can write for hours without my wrists or my fingers getting sore\u2014looking at you, Apple.<\/p>\n

And then there are the hinges, too.<\/p>\n

Uh? The hinges? <\/i>Yeah, seriously, the things that let you open and place the screen at whatever angle, without it wobbling<\/i>. Plus, those hinges are designed in such a way that all ThinkPad can be opened flat (in fact, at more than 180\u00b0). For someone like me, often working in awkward positions (because of my back), it\u2019s a blessing and something I\u2019ve always cursed with most other brands, including Apple and Microsoft.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Then, and that\u2019s the thing that seduced me the most during the lockdown: I was able to fix\/service the ThinkPad all by myself, easily <\/i>and using only common tools <\/i>and off-the-shelves components<\/i>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This Philips screwdriver is all I needed to open the laptop and to remove every single piece in it. The bottom case, the screen, the bezel, the top case, the battery, the palm rest, the WiFi & Bluetooth cards, the storage, the ram, the keyboard, the speakers, the trackpad, the power plug, the webcam, all antennas and cables, and so on, up to the CPU itself that, on the T420 at least, is not soldered on the motherboard and, like on a desktop PC, can be upgraded.<\/p>\n

So, you can open this thing like it was made out of Lego? Who cares? <\/i><\/h2>\n

Up until the lockdown, I <\/i>couldn\u2019t care less. A broken laptop? Right, drop it by Apple\u2019s and if they can\u2019t fix it quickly enough, borrow or purchase another machine. I need a laptop in order to earn a living, I\u2019m fine with the fact that its costs money.<\/p>\n

But that was not even possible here.<\/p>\n

I could not get the Mac repaired (the repair store was closed), I could not purchase a new Mac (the Apple Store was closed \u2014 which was the right decision by Apple), and <\/i>while we were in lockdown I decided to not use delivery services at all: so, no Amazon either. But that’s not the worst part.<\/p>\n

Say I would not have left the Mac at the shop just three days before the lockdown was announced, I would not even have been able to try to fix it myself as Apple has slowly made it almost impossible to do so.<\/p>\n

For some years now, Mac are using much less <\/i>common screws, that require specific screwdrivers, and they use non-standard components that are expensive and hard to find. Components when they’re not soldered on the motherboard (hence, unfixable & non-upgradable) or hard-glued to the case itself. Even the keyboard is non-replaceable nowadays: since ~2015\/16, one need to replace the entire top case, even for a single broken keycap. That’s silly.<\/p>\n

Worse. if the mac wad dead for good (it’s CPU or T2 chip fried,say) there is no way to get my data back, since it’s soldered on the board, as is the SSD.<\/p>\n

Do backups, moron!<\/i> \u2011 Thx for the advice, I do: my data are safe. That\u2019s not my point.<\/p>\n

There is no way to replace (or to salvage) the drive only, in case something terribly wrong happens. And\u00a0 one has to throwaway the complete motherboard with the drive on it, the ram and whatever else is soldered-on and even if it is in perfect working condition. That makes no sense.<\/p>\n

And that’s certainly not how things should work. Even less so from a company that communicate a lot\u00a0 about its commitment to preserve the environment and reduce its ecological footprint. Even less, if the only reason is to build a thinner <\/i>looking device.<\/p>\n

Make it thicker and more durable\/fixable, ffs.<\/p>\n

On the thick <\/i>T420 and X220, to replace the SSD, I had to remove a single<\/em> screw. To upgrade the RAM, I had to remove two<\/em> screws to access the dim-slots (standard sticks of DDR3). To replace the keyboard, I had to remove two<\/em> screws (only one, on the T420). Getting to the CPU itself (removing everything in the laptop, to blow all dust and to replace its old thermal paste with a fresher one) took me maybe 20 minutes, doing it real slow, following the step-by-step instructions in the service manuals (T420<\/a>, X220<\/a>), and because it was the first time I did it. It took me ~10 minutes, at max, to put everything back and reboot the PC.<\/p>\n

An eviscerated T420, with its naked CPU showing. Turn the screw on the right of the CPU, gently lift the CPU and put a new (and better) one in place. Done<\/i>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

User replaceable batteries. Why would anyone want that?<\/i><\/p>\n

So, you fell in love with this old piece of junk that doesn\u2019t even run macOS and now you’ll live HEA (Happily Ever After)? Great for you!<\/h2>\n

Nope. It’s not the perfect love. Those ThinkPad have many drawbacks.<\/p>\n

The worst is their screen. They use a 16:9 panel, a ratio I never liked. For writing, I much prefer 4:3 or 16:10. And then, they use TN panel and not even a good one. The best TN panels are not that shitty, but they\u2019re not great either. Somehow, Lenovo managed to pick the worsts ever made, or close to. They have almost no viewing angles, and the colors are so washed out it\u2019s, just\u2026 it\u2019s ugly. I wouldn\u2019t do photo editing on those. And I don\u2019t. For that, I use an external IPS display, and since both machines can run Affinity apps very well, it\u2019s great.<\/p>\n

Also, if the T420 as an OK resolution for a 14\u201d (1440×900, like the 13\u201d MacBook Air used to have), the 12\u201d X220 is a laughable 1366×768. For writing that\u2019s not much of an issue and I\u2019m not obsessed with Retina\/HiDPI displays either, but they could have put a FHD (1080) panel instead.<\/p>\n

FYI, a much better optional (1366×768) IPS screen was available when ordering the X220 new, back then, but good luck to find one nowadays (I\u2019m still looking). Also, one can find workarounds to install a FHD (1080) IPS panel<\/a> on the X220, which would make this laptop amazing. Alas, it requires some light soldering, something that is out of my reach considering my very bad eyesight. But the fact that people have made such hacks possible tells a lot about what users are willing to do just to keep using them, even almost ten years later.<\/p>\n

Then, it\u2019s old. Not that it is a problem because of its CPU being to old. On the contrary,\u00a0 I still have to find myself wishing it had more oumpf! <\/i>to do what I ask it to do. But it lacks any modern ports. Obviously, there is no USB-C\/Thunderbolt, but there are no USB3 either (save on the X220 Core i7), no HDMI, not even DVI. It comes with plenty of ports, though: 4 USB 2 (3 on the X220), an Express Card slot (which gives access to optional USB3, btw), VGA, DisplayPort, a SD Card reader, eSata port, audio jack and a dock connector.<\/p>\n

And there are the speakers. It wouldn\u2019t have any, it wouldn\u2019t make the slightest difference: they\u2019re worse than bad. Since I always use headphones, I don\u2019t care.<\/p>\n

Finally, it\u2019s thick like a brick. And it doesn\u2019t look cool like a Mac. The thing is that I don\u2019t give a half a fuck about the thickness of my computer\u2014sorry, even as a 30+ years Apple user, I never have. I like my laptop being nice, of course, but that’s a bonus nothing more.<\/p>\n

The good news is that, since it\u2019s thick and very well built, it\u2019s sturdy like a brick. I\u2019ve dropped mine multiple times already without making any dent.<\/p>\n

So, this thick brick is not better than a Mac?<\/h2>\n

That\u2019s not the point. It\u2019s not even fair to try to compare them, no more than to compare a 2020 Mac with a 2011 model \u2014 though, not in the way you might expect.<\/p>\n

I won\u2019t talk about the CPU being better, as I need not that much power to run my apps: I have never replaced a laptop because of a beefier CPU (a cooler one, that I did: I hate noise). But the Mac’s screen is amazing (despite it being shiny), and it\u2019s silent (fan noise is easy to fix with ThinkPad, though), it\u2019s thin and it’s light. And there is macOS, and so many great apps. And then, of course, everyone around you knows how cool you are, since you\u2019re using a Mac.<\/p>\n

But\u2026<\/i>there is one thing that made all the Mac ‘betterness’ useless to me while I was stuck in lockdown: I could not make it work<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve no issue with hardware failing. It happens all the time. What I do have an issue with, is a brand making it hard for its customers to (try to) fix it, for no good reason. Apple is not the only one to do that, but they’re leading the way.<\/p>\n

At least, that\u2019s what the lockdown forced to reconsider: what do I expect from my tools? One of the things that now matters very much, is that I want to be able to fix my devices. At least, to have a chance.<\/p>\n

Ok, but why bother with such an old model? Why not purchase one of the newer ThinkPad?<\/h2>\n

Like almost every other pc manufacturer in the world, Lenovo is more than willing to try to copy Apple, even in its most stupid decisions\u2014hi, the joyful world of dongles & hi too, to the un-serviceable soldered-on components in the name of always more thinness<\/i>.<\/p>\n

A few years back, Lenovo slowly started to remove or change everything on their T and X line of ThinkPad (the one very positive change: they now use much <\/i>better screens).<\/p>\n