XPost: comp.os.linux.advocacy
From: recscuba_google@huntzinger.com
On 12/15/25 18:42, David B. wrote:
> On 15/12/2025 23:16, -hh wrote:
>> On 12/15/25 17:55, Joel W. Crump wrote:
>>> On 12/15/25 5:08 PM, Alan wrote:
>>>> On 2025-12-13 18:29, pothead wrote:
>>>>> On 2025-12-14, rbowman wrote:
>>>>>> On Sat, 13 Dec 2025 16:55:03 -0500, -hh wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Wish that was the case, because I've lost some Dell laptops from
>>>>>>> swollen
>>>>>>> batteries at <3 years life: it doesn't do much good to have
>>>>>>> upgradable
>>>>>>> RAM/SSD designs when the office IT Department then won't even touch
>>>>>>> replacing a battery: they just replace the whole kit 'n kaboodle
>>>>>>> with
>>>>>>> new, reimage it to set it up & migrate user data. Ditto for broken
>>>>>>> smartphones too.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I was happy to see that the refurbished Lenovo T480 laptop I
>>>>>> bought allows
>>>>>> for cutting off the charging before the battery is completely full
>>>>>> and
>>>>>> that there is a Linux cli utility to set the charge parameters.
>>>>>
>>>>> Lenovo is one of the best.
>>>>> Indestructable, business grade laptop designed to travel with you
>>>>> and keep working despite abuse.
>>>>> Make sure to keep the fan free from dust.
>>>>> Typical of most laptops.
>>>>
>>>> And to get that level of quality, you PAY for it.
>>>>
>>>> And people who pay it don't get accused of being "brainwashed", nor
>>>> is Lenovo accused of "extorting" them.
>>>
>>>
>>> If I wanted a laptop, Lenovo would be a good choice, though. Apple
>>> would be an expensive choice.
>>>
>>
>> Back in my Thinkpad era, the IBM ones were running close to $3K, and
>> Lenovo was $2-2.5K. In today's dollars, that's quite a bit more.
>>
>> Migrated then to Dell and these were still ballpark $1.5K but they'd
>> die every 3 years (if you were lucky), so a lifespan similar to the
>> 'Pads was still $3-4K.
>>
>> Meantime, that Mac laptop that went seven years was $1350 (under $200/
>> yr), and last year's replacement for it (APMCX14LLA) was only $1800.
>> Bottom line is better lifecycle cost versus their business PC
>> equivalents that I've used...
>>
>> ...vastly better than my second to last Dell, a Latitude 7280 (i7 dual
>> core Koby Lake @ 2.8GHz; 16GB RAM & 256GB SSD) which ran ~$1500, but
>> lasted less than 3 years before its battery ballooned ($500+/yr).
>
> You hit the nail on the head: upgradeable RAM/SSD designs are
> meaningless if the corporate IT Department treats the machine as
> disposable. That’s where Apple’s sealed design, while less flexible,
> often wins in corporate environments because they simply replace the
> whole unit anyway.
Yup. I think a major watershed on this was when laptops became 'good
enough' for a mainstream white collar office use case, such that we were
no longer reliant on towers. And thus, business travel started to
include having our computers ... laptops ... with us. That era included
connecting back to the office at night from the hotel with the laptop's
56K baud modem(!). Concurrently, there were Blackberry pagers, then BB
cellphones, Palm Pilots, etc.
> If you were buying for yourself, would the upgradeable RAM/SSD still
> matter, or do you prefer the integrated, high-performance nature of the
> Mac hardware now?
A couple of decades ago when we were still in steep hardware price
gradients from the technology's high rate of change, upgradability was
desirable because an ~18 month delay could save a decent chunk of money.
Today, the rate of change is not as dramatic, so a delay doesn't save as
much money. PCs have long since passed the point of "good enough" for
mainstream tasks such that we could replace desktop iron with
ever-lighter laptops. As such, there's a reduced demand for high
performance because its no longer this month's cutting edge new stuff:
everyone can afford pretty high flying stuff without much drama.
This also means that where the past we'd have N interim hardware
refreshes during a systems life to maintain a performance edge, but with
these changes, N has declined to be less frequent. Once N drops down to
or below 1, it means that performing upgrades though system replacement
are a real & pragmatic consideration.
Plus there's also an age/seniority to consider too. As the joke goes,
life is like a BS sandwich: the more bread you have the less BS you
have to eat: having greater financial stability and budget latitude
enables a "buy nice stuff" because one doesn't need to squeeze out every
last dime from the budget.
-hh
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
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