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Comment by FearlessNebula | Hacker News Reader

Build quality is probably night and day. An old thinkpad is going to be clunky and made of cheap plastic. A modern $2000 ultra book is going to be slim and made of metal or other high quality materials, it will be pleasant to type on, to look at, and it will have a reasonable trackpad size by modern standards.

When this is your main tool, it’s much more pleasant to use something with a nice build quality.

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I don't know the model he mentioned specifically, but I'd put some old T-series thinkpads against almost anything you can buy now for build quality.

Thinkpads typically have magnesium cases, not plastic, and the older models have rollcages so they can take a beating like no other. I have an m1 air and while it feels sturdy, I have no doubt that X220 can withstand much more abuse than my macbook. Also, I have no doubt the X220 is more pleasant to type on, because older thinkpads have keyboards that have no equal in the laptop space. I would say my macbook has a satisfactory keyboard, but it is clearly a step down from the T series thinkpad it replaced. Still though, the macbook is for me overall the better package than any thinkpad that was in my budget range.

Keyboard is unmatched indeed, but my nipple mechanic is worn now and the trackpad is atrocious. I am not defending this machine, it is 10 years old, the CPU is a major limitation now. I bought it refurbished for 240€ in 2015, so I had a "single use" laptop for a trip... Became my main machine for years to follow. The low price point is one of the best features, as I am not constantly worried about it. Also the original spill resistance saved my ass two times. Oh yeah and SSD and RAM upgrade took me literally 5 minutes. Ridiculous. Almost disappointing as a DIY project.

Tho, I suspect it will perform much, much better cleaned, repaired and thermal-paste reapplied. But I wont open it, as long as I have no alternative set up.

(Also M1 + Linux, would be a no-brainer for me - best bang for the buck right now. I just fucking hate Apple OSs and the ecosystem. Oh and the keyboard too - feels as pleasant an ATM's number pad... Following Asahi closely, still.)

Wow, that seems like a steal for 240€. If you don’t mind me asking, why do you need a single use laptop to travel? Also regarding the MacBook keyboards, they’ve completely redesigned them. They were the worst keyboard I’ve ever used from 2016-2019, but the latest models have a brand new keyboard and it’s my favorite laptop keyboard ever, although that’s obviously just personal preference.

"Single-use" may have been the wrong expression. I meant, I needed something that could break, be stolen, or tempered with at the airport, without me losing trust/access to my main work/digital life tool, and without me getting too sad about it.

I try the Macbooks' keyboards every time I see one in the store. Yes, it has been even worse, but the new ones feel clickity-clackity, like an ATM pad, to me too. No travel, and annoying high pitched noises. Feels weird to rest your fingers on those keys. Not even close to a Thinkpad keyboard, old or new. I could get used to it, but it is not a great input device. Not at all. Trackpad rocks of course, but so does the nipple, if you type a lot.

Ah okay. Fair enough, I could see how the keyboard is very polarizing. I’m tempted to pick up an old thinkpad with how much people rave about them..

Magnesium? I must be confused then, because the “thinkpad” I was imagining was made of plastic. I’ve definitely felt a magnesium laptop from Microsoft’s surface brand before and that build quality was great.

Clunky sure, but cheap plastic? Old thinkpads can take a beating and keep going.

I guess different people just have different needs. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I didn’t mean cheap plastic in terms of durability, but in terms of how it feels quality wise. They can definitely take a beating

In terms of durability, the 10 year old ThinkPad will exceed just about any modern laptop. Size/weight is different story though. Just depends on priorities.

Jeez, I explicitly stated my comment was about "snappiness" only. Sure you can move the goalpost, if it makes you happy, but I am not trying to argue a 10 year old Thinkpad, or any laptop that age, is nicer than a recent Macbook. You win, tiger.

Meh, I just forgot you said that while I was replying

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