Laptop with sensel? Thinkpad X1 yoga

[William_D]

Looking for a premium laptop for uni. The sensel touchpads seems like an amazing feature and i really want my laptop to have one. The laptop i currently own is a old laptop from 2016 and painfully outdated. Haven't had a use for anything in addition to my desktop for years. The Thinkpad X1 yoga is the only one I can find. Are there any upcoming laptop i should wait for or is the Thinkpad my best bet. Any potential deal breakers with the X1 i should look out for?

[Bombastinator]

43 minutes ago, William_D said:

Looking for a premium laptop for uni. The sensel touchpads seems like an amazing feature and i really want my laptop to have one. The laptop i currently own is a old laptop from 2016 and painfully outdated. Haven't had a use for anything in addition to my desktop for years. The Thinkpad X1 yoga is the only one I can find. Are there any upcoming laptop i should wait for or is the Thinkpad my best bet. Any potential deal breakers with the X1 i should look out for?

I’m hearing good things about the surface4 and m1 MacBooks.  The conventional wisdom with a college computer is it’s going to be dragged around to a lot of places and spend a lot of time on battery and in a backpack, so things like case quality can matter a lot more.  Something flimsy can break easily and that can be life changing.  A computer that doesn’t fall apart can matter a lot.   Power isn’t usually that gigantic a deal because universities tend to have front line equipment available when truely rugged stuff gets done, and classwork is frequently managed by a professor to not be too horrifically processor intensive, and when it is there is the big iron around. Most of your time will be spent reading and typing stuff so screen quality and keyboard quality can matter quite a bit as well.  You want something that doesn’t get in your way too much because time is often at a premium. 

Edited August 2, 2021 by Bombastinator

[Darkseth]

i've read a user report of that one, he said, the Trackpad is kinda on Macbook level.

Meaning, the biggest jump is beeing clickable everywhere, and not just the bottom half, making it an even experience.

I didn't try, but i'd be sceptical. MacOS does (some) Gestures much better than Windows, regardless of Sensel.

 

Why don't you tell us how you want to use it? What software will be used, what specific aspects are most important to you?

 

I might sound like an Apple Fanboy, but seeing it purely objectively:
I think, for basic tasks like "college laptop", without anything super specific, look it the M1 Macbooks do all you need, and if yes, take them. If not, THEN look for an alternative.

 

M1 Macbook Air for example, the M1 delivers a superb everyday-performance (even background updates won't make it flinch), it brings a superb battery life and battery efficiency (when you start doing stuff, battery doesn't suddenly drop exponentially), and it's silent because it has no Fan.
M1 Macbook Pro is silent too, beause only in 100% Load situations the Fan starts.

But this "holy trinity" is like unbeatable and such a HUGE deal in everyday usage. Performance, battery life, and zero noise.

 

But aside from that, it does most things right: Trackpad is best in class, keyboard is finally good (not best, but good), build quality is superb, it's small, thin and light, resale value is huge, MacOS does many things right and good, Speakers are at the Top in this class, Display is great (high res, good color calibration, 400 nits bright 16:9).
Only bummer beeing 256gb ssd and 8gb Ram, and upgrades are expensive. And not repairable.

 

Thinkpads do seem much more ruggid, i have a T480s from Work, and i believe it won't break as easily. But i like using the Macbook SO much more and would prefer it any time of the day. Still, i do see the benfits of beeing sturdy and reliable, and Thinkpads have a great Linux support, and if these Things are more important for you, the higher Thinkpad models are really great devices.

 

But take a look at this: 

 

 

Josh makes incredibly good reviews, and it's really surprising how much those similar Thinkpads differ from each other. Even Trackpads are different, Keyboards, Displays and even Build quality is different from each other.

[William_D]

On 8/3/2021 at 6:42 PM, Darkseth said:

i've read a user report of that one, he said, the Trackpad is kinda on Macbook level.

Meaning, the biggest jump is beeing clickable everywhere, and not just the bottom half, making it an even experience.

I didn't try, but i'd be sceptical. MacOS does (some) Gestures much better than Windows, regardless of Sensel.

 

Why don't you tell us how you want to use it? What software will be used, what specific aspects are most important to you?

 

I might sound like an Apple Fanboy, but seeing it purely objectively:
I think, for basic tasks like "college laptop", without anything super specific, look it the M1 Macbooks do all you need, and if yes, take them. If not, THEN look for an alternative.

 

M1 Macbook Air for example, the M1 delivers a superb everyday-performance (even background updates won't make it flinch), it brings a superb battery life and battery efficiency (when you start doing stuff, battery doesn't suddenly drop exponentially), and it's silent because it has no Fan.
M1 Macbook Pro is silent too, beause only in 100% Load situations the Fan starts.

But this "holy trinity" is like unbeatable and such a HUGE deal in everyday usage. Performance, battery life, and zero noise.

 

But aside from that, it does most things right: Trackpad is best in class, keyboard is finally good (not best, but good), build quality is superb, it's small, thin and light, resale value is huge, MacOS does many things right and good, Speakers are at the Top in this class, Display is great (high res, good color calibration, 400 nits bright 16:9).
Only bummer beeing 256gb ssd and 8gb Ram, and upgrades are expensive. And not repairable.

 

Thinkpads do seem much more ruggid, i have a T480s from Work, and i believe it won't break as easily. But i like using the Macbook SO much more and would prefer it any time of the day. Still, i do see the benfits of beeing sturdy and reliable, and Thinkpads have a great Linux support, and if these Things are more important for you, the higher Thinkpad models are really great devices.

 

But take a look at this: 

 

 

Josh makes incredibly good reviews, and it's really surprising how much those similar Thinkpads differ from each other. Even Trackpads are different, Keyboards, Displays and even Build quality is different from each other.

Im deep into window and dont want to have to learn a completely new system at the same time as getting back into school after a couple of year. I also am not a fan of the high wall on the apple ecosystem and have no interest in entering it. My vad for not specifying a windows laptop.

[William_D]

On 8/3/2021 at 6:42 PM, Darkseth said:

i've read a user report of that one, he said, the Trackpad is kinda on Macbook level.

Meaning, the biggest jump is beeing clickable everywhere, and not just the bottom half, making it an even experience.

I didn't try, but i'd be sceptical. MacOS does (some) Gestures much better than Windows, regardless of Sensel.

 

Why don't you tell us how you want to use it? What software will be used, what specific aspects are most important to you?

 

I might sound like an Apple Fanboy, but seeing it purely objectively:
I think, for basic tasks like "college laptop", without anything super specific, look it the M1 Macbooks do all you need, and if yes, take them. If not, THEN look for an alternative.

 

M1 Macbook Air for example, the M1 delivers a superb everyday-performance (even background updates won't make it flinch), it brings a superb battery life and battery efficiency (when you start doing stuff, battery doesn't suddenly drop exponentially), and it's silent because it has no Fan.
M1 Macbook Pro is silent too, beause only in 100% Load situations the Fan starts.

But this "holy trinity" is like unbeatable and such a HUGE deal in everyday usage. Performance, battery life, and zero noise.

 

But aside from that, it does most things right: Trackpad is best in class, keyboard is finally good (not best, but good), build quality is superb, it's small, thin and light, resale value is huge, MacOS does many things right and good, Speakers are at the Top in this class, Display is great (high res, good color calibration, 400 nits bright 16:9).
Only bummer beeing 256gb ssd and 8gb Ram, and upgrades are expensive. And not repairable.

 

Thinkpads do seem much more ruggid, i have a T480s from Work, and i believe it won't break as easily. But i like using the Macbook SO much more and would prefer it any time of the day. Still, i do see the benfits of beeing sturdy and reliable, and Thinkpads have a great Linux support, and if these Things are more important for you, the higher Thinkpad models are really great devices.

 

But take a look at this: 

 

 

Josh makes incredibly good reviews, and it's really surprising how much those similar Thinkpads differ from each other. Even Trackpads are different, Keyboards, Displays and even Build quality is different from each other.

 

On 8/3/2021 at 12:30 AM, Bombastinator said:

I’m hearing good things about the surface4 and m1 MacBooks.  The conventional wisdom with a college computer is it’s going to be dragged around to a lot of places and spend a lot of time on battery and in a backpack, so things like case quality can matter a lot more.  Something flimsy can break easily and that can be life changing.  A computer that doesn’t fall apart can matter a lot.   Power isn’t usually that gigantic a deal because universities tend to have front line equipment available when truely rugged stuff gets done, and classwork is frequently managed by a professor to not be too horrifically processor intensive, and when it is there is the big iron around. Most of your time will be spent reading and typing stuff so screen quality and keyboard quality can matter quite a bit as well.  You want something that doesn’t get in your way too much because time is often at a premium. 

My main concern is weight, batteri, build quality and i would prefer a gpu. (I will be handling CAD files, and prefer not to have them to choppy.) In simple works, i want a mac with windows and a gpu.

[Bombastinator]

12 minutes ago, William_D said:

 

My main concern is weight, batteri, build quality and i would prefer a gpu. (I will be handling CAD files, and prefer not to have them to choppy.) In simple works, i want a mac with windows and a gpu.

Discrete gpu makes things bigger. More space more heat more cooling. Cuts out both the m1 and the surface stuff completely.  Possibly thin and light entirely. The challenge of a thin-and-light with a discrete gpu may not be achievable.  Maybe a really small lower spec gaming machine. Be close anyway.  The problem with such things is if you go too small things get flimsy. They also tend to get expensive.