I 'm looking into getting new laptop The main requirements are:

[G+_Ben Tyger]

I'm looking into getting new laptop. The main requirements are:

* greater then 720p screen

* Linux supported hardware (doesn't need to be official)

* TrackPoint (aka pointing nipple)

 

I know the first two aren't too hard to achieve. That last requirement is a real PITA. I know Lenovo offers them the higher end ThinkPads as does Dell with the Latitudes. Does anybody know of any other laptop manufacturer that has trackpoints?

 

Does anybody know of any hard hacks possibly adding a trackpoint to a non-trackpoint keyboard?

[G+_Travis Hershberger]

Well, to start off with, just forget Lenovo ever existed.  Way to many bad behaviors and outright lies than I want to think about.

 

I haven't ever heard of someone adding TrackPoint to a keyboard.  It's be easier today with a 3D printer to make some replacement key-caps.  Getting the little pointing stick mounted and connected somehow would be the real trick (probably have to solder it to a usb port.)

[G+_Andrew Farrer]

Most corporate laptops have TrackPoint. My last 2 have been HP with Core I5 and usually get replaced after 3 years so there are lots available.

[G+_Ben Tyger]

I was thinking about maybe buying a trackpoint replacement keyboard and franken-hacking it in.

[G+_Ben Tyger]

Travis Hershberger I know Lenovo has been bad with the software side. That's not an issue for me since I run Linux. What are your issues with the hardware ?

[G+_Jeff Brand]

While I don't have a high opinion of Lenovo right now, they're still higher up than most manufacturers. I was ready to write them off after the latest privacy violation and turned to Dell, only to learn that they were doing much worse things at the same time.

 

The Thinkpad lines are "mostly" untouched by the crapware, mainly because their enterprise customers wouldn't let them get away with such behavior.

 

My Thinkpad T440s meets your specs and is just over a year old. It had some minor build quality issues (defectively noisy fan, poor fit on a plastic finish piece). Lenovo sent me a replacement fan with minimal complaint. Still, it's sad to see quality slip on such supposedly-premium hardware.

 

I'm strongly considering Linux this summer. I can no longer abide by Windows 10 waking up my system from hibernate and rebooting it, losing all active work, just to apply their mandatory updates. I'm curious to know what else you find.

[G+_Travis Hershberger]

Ben Tyger This is a quote from a trusted source (Scott Alan Miller)

 

"They did the network shim hijack. The one associated with Superfish. That was one epic. That alone is unforgiveable and that they had a single customer since that time is, to me, inexcusable on the part of any IT department or business with knowledge of it. That was so deliberate, evil and remorseless that they should have been completely shunned. They were not and they took advantage of it. This was done through elaborate means that gave normal shops no means of bypassing - clean installs could not get around it.

 

They pulled an SSL cert manoeuvre, I believe, but I don't remember the details.

 

They did a BIOS level bloatware (which is malware when you don't want it, so malware) installation that could not be bypassed via reinstallation. You do a clean install and software that you never authorized was pushed onto your machine without permission or authorization. They got caught just doing it with bloatware, but what they intended to use it for before getting caught we will never know. that the system was compromised at the hardware level (below root level) is what it was, however.

 

Then they did the shared, 12345678 password backdoor issue this week.

 

That's four. I think I missed one or two. They've had so many issues it is pretty much impossible to track.

 

That's on top of running the scam that we got stuck with at Spiceworld 2014. They ran a promotion to win a laptop. My wife won and they wouldn't even respond to us until we threatened legal action. We went through them directly, they blew us off. We went through SW, both they and SW blew us off. We went public, they got their promotional people to pretend it didn't matter. We starting talking lawyer and grand theft and... a week later our superfish enabled, networking broken, no wifi crippled Yoga 2 arrived.

 

(For reference, at the event they lied to my wife and told her that they had no Yoga 2s there and she would get it by mail. She was the first winner. All of the MALE winners after her were handed a Yoga 2 on the spot, the very one she had already won and they refused to give her. Technically, they gave hers away. Our guess is that they were guessing that she was female and unlikely to make a fuss and that they could blow her off and since they have no community presence had no idea who she was and that she would get a lot of attention when they didn't honour their commitment. But that is just speculation as to why they did it.)"

 

Does this sound like a company you can trust?  Or a company that keeps it's word?  Obviously sexism is accepted.  Sorry, but anyone who actually considers Lenovo anymore just needs to get better informed.

 

Yes, other companies have done some of the same things.  The other companies actually stop doing those bad things when called out.  Lenovo just gives you a song and dance.

[G+_Jeff Brand]

He's already established that it's going to have Linux installed. Your anecdotal tale is awful, for sure, but also representative of a small sketchy sales team, not the company as a whole.

 

On some level, supporting a company with those practices only encourages them. I'd rather financially support a company with solid hardware. I'd like to think that I can "vote" against their sketchy software practices separately by affecting their install-base. For example, the SHAREit app mentioned in the password scandal has never been installed on any of my Lenovo products, despite their update software recommendations.

 

Samsung is slowly realizing this about their hardware/software lock-ins. Lenovo will hopefully follow.

[G+_Joshua Hamlett]

HP business laptops may also have a trackpoint. However, newer generations from all manufacturers have started omitting them due to non-use by most people it seems.

[G+_Ben Tyger]

Joshua Hamlett? I think non-use it because the lack of availability, not the dislike of the interface.

 

Personally I abhor touch pads. As a system admin, they can even be dangerous to systems. ?

[G+_Jeff Brand]

I've sworn off HP after the dv9000 debacle: Overheating issues were exasperated by a bad fan control logic and led to solder joint failure. While HP extended their usual 1-year warranty to 18 months, all warrantied returns were replaced with motherboards with the exact same issue. After the warranty ended, they were more than willing to offer the same repairs starting at $200.

 

A flawed design is understandable but the way they handled replacements is downright cruel.

[G+_Joshua Hamlett]

Jeff Brand, You know, that is why refurbished computers are so great. Pretty much, only computers which have lasted a few years and still work end up being refurbished and resold.