Are all laptops shit?

[HairyBadger]

Yes. All laptops are shit.

I carry around the world a Lenovo Thinkpad T14 and an Apple M1 MacBook Air. The Lenovo is Company provided running Linux, my personal unit is a first Gen M1 MacBook Air.

The MacBook works, the software / hardware interface means I dont have to worry about anything crashing. It works. I've not had a bail-out or crash in 5 years. I can open the lid and start work in seconds without updates or reconfigurations, or without the Windows system getting all spastic.
I can remote into *nix systems or run MS systems without concern via Parallels or VmWare. I have a unit that does most things without having to think about it.

The ARM version of Windows 11 is almost good, Both vmWare and Parallels offer direct downloads of Win 11, the Office Suite is mostly stable; Access is still a pain.

 

[HairyBadger]

Access the Microsoft Database.

 

[Gatdam Animal Person]

I like my framework because it got a 3:2 screen, and does laptop way better than my other devices (ASUS gaming laptop and HP 2in1). Good battery life and performance just like a ThinkPad. The reason you would want the latter is because the price is being subsidized by Microsoft & friends.

 

[Dawdler]

It turns out it probably wasn't the battery, but the computer itself being unable to calculate the percentage. It'll only increase the charge while it's shut down completely. The issue persists even after changing the OS. I don't feel comfortable using it for longer periods of time now.

Update bios, load defaults.
Install windows, install HP-IBM-Whatever poz battery tools. Charge to full and then discharge to empty. It should be fixed.
Laptops are retarted piece of shit that are outcompeted only by printers.

Given how Apple Silicon puts everything on there, CPU, GPU and RAM, to have their amazing performance gains at the cost of planned obsolescence and a single point of failure, I wouldn't be surprised if later down the line they'll put storage on there as well. Your RAM went bad? Oops, that's your entire system going kaput! Your CPU, GPU, and all of your data! But remember that it's "built to last", because Apple cultists said so. Then again, those types buy that shit for the logo alone so they have zero idea what the fuck they're even talking about.

It's only a matter of time. Samsung mobile ARM chips are made that way.
Luckily it's flash on top and cpu under it - You can imagine the repair is absolute nightmare.

 

[Commissar Fuklaw]

The build quality has dropped like a fuckin' rock since 2020. Broken hinges which more often than not take out the screen with them are my #1 issue which used to be shitty hard drives. Stay away from HP Envy x360 laptops. I've had a handful of people bring theirs in which have broken while being used as directed for no god damn reason, all within 6-12 months after purchase. HP wouldn't take responsibility for using piss weak plastic either saying because the screen was broken as well it wasn't covered under manufacturer's warranty.

 

[eDove]

Update bios, load defaults.
Install windows, install HP-IBM-Whatever poz battery tools. Charge to full and then discharge to empty. It should be fixed.

Thanks. Would this problem carry over to Linux without it being a hardware issue though? Hopefully I'll be able to replicate this fix without having to reinstall Windows. I calibrated/cycled the battery a couple times (at least tried to) after replacing it.

I'm stressing out over turning the thing on. I expect to be troubleshooting it for a couple hours again instead of capitalizing on creative urges. Troubleshooting, fun as it is, kills inspiration the longer it goes on.

@Commissar Fuklaw

Stay away from HP Envy x360 laptops.

You've got me cackling. That is the exact laptop I'm running. POS cost a grand and getting the back panel off was a nightmare daring you to take it to Geek Squad.

The screws were chintzy and easily stripped by the correct-sized screwdrivers. Then there's that garbage, teeny-tiny hex screw at the bottom that's there just to fuck with you. They all stripped instantly like they were made of clay, especially that hex screw. I had to resort to forcing the panel off 'cause that hex screw refused to come out. I tried every trick apart from taking a dremel to it. Afterward, I had to scrape away the plastic insert for that screw just so it'd fit in and the panel would snap tightly under the touchpad.

This makes me sound like an indelicate ape, but I promise you I was very tender toward the laptop. The build quality is subpar and I guess I'm fortunate it lasted this long without major issues.

 

[Dawdler]

Thanks. Would this problem carry over to Linux without it being a hardware issue though? Hopefully I'll be able to replicate this fix without having to reinstall Windows. I calibrated/cycled the battery a couple times (at least tried to) after replacing it.

Linux is retarded in a way that certain laptops don't work with it well. It has to do with drivers for subsystem as well as interacting with bios.
You perhaps noticed issues resuming from sleep or such, getting blank display, non responsive keyboard and so on.
You should first investigate the battery capacity (reported) with batmon or some other tool.
Charge it full (until charging light turns off then wait +1-2h)
Boot it up to bios, remove the power and leave it there
If it dies too fast it's not an OS issue but the charger/batt one.
If you have a lenovo systems some don't charge with bad charger past 70% or so. Laptops are really an absolute headache to debug and repair and I've seen everything.
If you have HP-lenovo you do need their spyware installed - there was a bios battery update that will restrict the capacity to prevent degradation / issues and you'll get a warning on screen too.

 

[Romeo]

For college, I started out with a Macbook Air. It was really convenient to use thanks to the MacOS for mostly working on projects, essays, and browsing, though the only game that the Macbook could run was League of Legends.

However, after only less than two years in, my screen just stopped working. However, if I closed the screen to the point it is only inches across the keyboard, the screen soon turn itself on. As it turns out, the tape between the motherboard and the screen snapped. I went to the Genius Lab at a local Apple store and they told me that they can't fix the tape and that I need to replace the entire scree for $700, which is essentially a new laptop at that point. They also told me I broke the tape because I closed the screen too hard on multiple instances. I got pissed and went to a repair shop and they told me that it required special tools by Apple to fix the problem and Apple being Apple refused to hand out these tools to repair shops due to its opposition to right to repair.

Dejected, I quit Apple and decided to go for a Windows laptop to replace the Macbook Air for college and later for post-college life. My dad decided to upgrade my laptop to a gaming laptop, a Dell G Series. Like all gaming laptops, the Dell G Series was extremely inefficient when it is not charging, with a battery life of less than an hour and a quarter. As a result, I had to keep the device charged during class. The thing also melts like a stove. Nevertheless, the laptop is really powerful, and could run games that were released that year.

I experienced no issues with the G Series until my Wi-Fi adapter and later my Bluetooth adapter suddenly stopped working. The Dell G Series uses the Intel Killer Wi-Fi adapter and it would randomly break on multiple occasions and then randomly fix itself. I went to a repair shop and they told me that the adapters seem to be fine and connected with the motherboard, so it couldn't be a loose wire. During this time, I had to keep my laptop on my desk at all time connected to the Ethernet cable to function and attached a headphone jack to it since the Bluetooth adapter broke until it randomly fixed itself later. I also had to replace the Dell charger adapter multiple times because the wire cover would tear itself apart from the jack.

Finally, I said enough is enough and spent a fortune on building a personal PC with the help of a friend and I haven't experience problems yet. I still use the G Series Laptop if I need to do sometime mobile and not on my desk while the Macbook Air is in storage collecting dust.

 

[eDove]

Linux is retarded in a way that certain laptops don't work with it well. It has to do with drivers for subsystem as well as interacting with bios.
You perhaps noticed issues resuming from sleep or such, getting blank display, non responsive keyboard and so on.
You should first investigate the battery capacity (reported) with batmon or some other tool.
Charge it full (until charging light turns off then wait +1-2h)
Boot it up to bios, remove the power and leave it there
If it dies too fast it's not an OS issue but the charger/batt one.
If you have a lenovo systems some don't charge with bad charger past 70% or so. Laptops are really an absolute headache to debug and repair and I've seen everything.
If you have HP-lenovo you do need their spyware installed - there was a bios battery update that will restrict the capacity to prevent degradation / issues and you'll get a warning on screen too.

The bizarre defect with the laptop is that it won't increase its charge unless it's turned off. It persists through operating systems and the instructions you provided. After doing some more research, I found a thread spanning over a few years of people with HP laptops complaining about this problem. Apparently, this is common with HP and everyone from technophiles to laymen have no idea why it happens.

I'm thinking about getting a new rig altogether since the battery only lasts three hours or so when it's fully charged. It's not sustainable.

We have a dedicated gaming PC and it's awesome. If some part of it fails it doesn't feel like a hopeless endeavor to fix. It's hooked up to our TV in the living room though, so there isn't much privacy. I can't move it willy-nilly either.

The concept of a laptop is simple. Why do so many of them feel like scams? Thankfully, there have been good suggestions so far. I have a hard time justifying the price of some Apple products. I'd rather upgrade the gaming PC than spend another thousand dollars on a laptop.

 

[Dawdler]

The bizarre defect with the laptop is that it won't increase its charge unless it's turned off. It persists through operating systems and the instructions you provided.

Shit charger. Lenovos for instance will do exactly that with 65W instead of 90W charger.
Happens same way with 90W charger if it lost it's charger id pin or wire got cut.
The entire thing is horrible. If board receiving ic got toasted it will do the same.
Go to bios and look up at "charger power" menu if you have it.

The concept of a laptop is simple. Why do so many of them feel like scams?

BC they are
PC you can swap and upgrade. Modern laptop - everything is glued and soldered together. It is unrepairable

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole 2]

T480 ... T420

I did inventory a couple of months ago and junked hundreds of those that sat in storage.

 

[Ferryman]

I can personally recommend the X230/T, T440p or W541. Been using the X230T and W541 since literally 2014 and they have not failed me once (with the caveat that I've had two batteries die on the W541 and one on the X230, no big deal, you can get them pretty easily off ebay). If you can snag any of them for around ~200$ I'd highly recommend it, and try to get one with a i7-3520M if you go for the X230. I cannot shill this thing hard enough, it has carried me through half of high school, college and now post grad, chugging on no problem. Typing this on mine right now and it feels perfectly snappy. I'd also smack an adapter and small nvme in the expresscard slot if you want to squeeze out a bit more random I/O performance. You'd be surprised how well even 10+ year old laptops can run with the right setup.

If you want something more future proof then I'll echo what tons of other people itt already said: the T480 is great. Up to 64 gigs ram, way better cpu, nvme, the works. Highly considering getting one myself now that they have Libreboot support. If I had no computer right now and had to choose a new one, I would probably go for the T480 (or wait until the end of this week for the new Libreboot release since there's a good chance they'll include more T480-era laptops).

 

[Just Some Other Guy]

Idk guys, keep waiting for my Acer Helios to shit the bed like everyone here claims 2 years after buying. Hinges and whatnot still work like new.

 

[Samuel Fuller]

Based on my experience, all consumer-grade Windows laptops are shit.

If you need a good laptop on the Windows side of things, business models from Lenovo and Hp are much, much better than consumer gear. Business models will usually have a crash frame inside the shell, better-quality keyboards and fewer tampered-with parts, which means proper driver support once the manufacturer stops packaging their own drivers for the devices.

Business models are also far more likely to have nice little touches like an extra M2 slot and better displays on them.

Basically, whether you want a MacBook Pro or a Windows laptop, you will have to pay the same amount to get good quality.

 

[VargReallyDidNothingWrong]

Look at enterprise/business laptops like the HP Elitebook, Lenovo Thinkpad series. You can often find them being second-hand for relatively cheap. I've been using an old Elitebook as my "work laptop" for like 6-7 years, it's required a replacement battery which was available for purchase, and I splurged to get it more RAM. Aside from that - no issues.

Windows is generally better than Linux for battery optimization from what I've seen/heard over the years.

 

[Samuel Fuller]

Look at enterprise/business laptops like the HP Elitebook, Lenovo Thinkpad series. You can often find them being second-hand for relatively cheap. I've been using an old Elitebook as my "work laptop" for like 6-7 years, it's required a replacement battery which was available for purchase, and I splurged to get it more RAM. Aside from that - no issues.

Windows is generally better than Linux for battery optimization from what I've seen/heard over the years.

HP ProBook and EliteBook models are my usual recommendations, as HP sells off unsold enterprise stock as refurbs through some major retailers for a good price.


Linux will NEVER have the battery and power management optimization Windows has, since that sort of thing requires proprietary software to function, and we all know how the penguin molesters act whenever they don't get the source code for every little thing.

 

[eDove]

HP ProBook and EliteBook models are my usual recommendations, as HP sells off unsold enterprise stock as refurbs through some major retailers for a good price.


Linux will NEVER have the battery and power management optimization Windows has, since that sort of thing requires proprietary software to function, and we all know how the penguin molesters act whenever they don't get the source code for every little thing.

Windows drives me so crazy with the resource usage, incessant updates, and bloat. It's what I'm used to, obviously, but I'm sick of it. I'd love a lightweight and stripped down version of Windows but Microsoft is a bunch of jeet niggers.

I calibrated the battery yet again and I got it to charge while in use for the first time. After a reset, however, the issue's come back. Most of my usage has been making Linux do what I want it to do.

 

[Samuel Fuller]

Windows drives me so crazy with the resource usage, incessant updates, and bloat. It's what I'm used to, obviously, but I'm sick of it. I'd love a lightweight and stripped down version of Windows but Microsoft is a bunch of jeet niggers.

I calibrated the battery yet again and I got it to charge while in use for the first time. After a reset, however, the issue's come back. Most of my usage has been making Linux do what I want it to do.

Honestly, the only truly well-engineered laptops are MacBooks. Yes, it is always going to be easier when one entity conrols the full stack, but Windows has ALWAYS sucked for power management, Linux makes Windows look good, and coupling that with the race-to-the-bottom build quality and component choices, laptops are 98% shit, aside from Apple ones.

One recommendation I'd make is for anyone wanting a good Windows 10 or Linux laptop to grab an Intel MacBook Air or Pro while they are still relatively cheap, or get an Apple Silicon one and use Parallels to run a Windows VM. I work in IT and use my 16-inch M2 Pro MBP as my daily driver, and over the past two years using the Mac environment for anything not Windows-dependent with the VM as a fallback has only gotten better.

The ARM 64 uprising has made MS take some real strides with bringing the ARM build of Windows up to parity with the X86-64 version, and it is amazingly improved now compared to even 3 years ago on that front, and a VM of it on a Mac laptop is basically just a sandboxed instance of Windows since it runs natively on the hardware.

 

[CaptainAutism69]

I've had my HP Spectre x360 for 9 years and it's still going strong. Bought it as a nice travel laptop, ended up using it for work for years now.

 

[Samuel Fuller]

I've had my HP Spectre x360 for 9 years and it's still going strong. Bought it as a nice travel laptop, ended up using it for work for years now.

Spectres are EliteBooks with gamer branding, and if you find them at a markdown they can be a decent choice.