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From: John Doue on 16 May 2010 10:33 On 5/16/2010 12:47 PM, ~misfit~ wrote: > Somewhere on teh intarwebs BillW50 wrote: >> In news:hsk56e$1re$1(a)news.eternal-september.org, >> BillW50 typed on Fri, 14 May 2010 13:35:54 -0500: >>> Well I don't know what Lenovo is doing. But you have to wonder when >>> Consumer Reports polled 75,000 users who bought a laptop between 2005 >>> and 2009 about their experiences. And Lenovo and Dell came in tied >>> for dead last. As 21% of them had either repaired or had a serious >>> problem. Toshiba had the fewest at 16%. >> >> If you were curious who was in the running, here was the list. >> >> Repairs and Serious Problems >> ---------------------------- >> Toshiba 16% >> Sony 17% >> Compaq 18% >> Acer 19% >> Apple 19% >> HP 20% >> Gateway 20% >> Dell 21% >> Lenovo 21% >> >> I was surprised that Asus wasn't in the list. As they generally make >> really good laptops. There are some lesser known makes too. I am sure >> if they were included both Dell and Lenovo wouldn't be sitting at the >> bottom. And I wish Alienware were polled. As they are one of the most >> powerful laptops out there. But I have no idea what their reliability >> falls at. Generally the more powerful, the less reliable they are. > > My experience with multiple IBM/Lenovo laptops made between 2004 and 2008 is > completely contrary to that data. However they're all 'ThinkPads', a premium > brand that IBM still own part of the rights to. I have little experience of > Lenovo's own models, I've only had one through here but it was fine. > > Alienware are merely a range of gaming machines made by Dell, so look there > for your data. > > BTW I've been involved in discussions about that list you quoted above > before. Not only does it include damage and accidents attributable to the > user it also shows that there's not that big a difference between the > various brands. 16% to 21%? A variation of only 5%. It doesn't seem so much > when you look at it like that. \ Sorry Shaun, but the difference between 16% and 21% is not 5% but 31%! Quite significant ... to the extent the data is reliable, and is meaningful. -- John Doue --- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: news(a)netfront.net ---
From: Bill on 16 May 2010 10:40 In message <hsk4hm$r4g$1(a)news.eternal-september.org>, BillW50 <BillW50(a)aol.kom> writes >In news:hsi1ah$mh8$1(a)news.eternal-september.org, ~misfit~ typed on Fri, >14 May 2010 11:17:31 +1200: >> Didn't I read about two months back that the need for VT had been >> quietly dropped? >> >> Yes, I thought so: >> http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/b/windows7/archive/2010/03/18/windows-xp-mode-now-accessible-to-more-pcs.aspx >> >> HTH, > >Well I stand corrected. Which happens once in a blue moon. ;-) My understanding is that the VT etc. isn't needed for XPMode now, but is still worth having for speed. The problem with many laptops of the Vista and W7 generation and the lack of "Stereo Mix" option in the record "mixer" is entirely separate from the XPMode recording problem. XPMode has the advantage that you don't need a separate XP licence to be legal, but my understanding is that other virtualisation applications may be more versatile. However, I really like the way I can run old apps in XPMode almost seamlessly, without the virtual OS being at all obvious. I tend to stick to Lenovo, which I've been entirely happy with, and Acer because I can understand how to get drivers from their websites. My recent 2 Acers seem to have been much better in the hinge area, which was always an Acer problem in my experience. Lenovo always seem to have known how to make hinges. The Lenovo I'm typing on is very well designed in that it is remarkably easy to access the fan and ducting area to clean the dust out. -- Bill
From: Pawlly Phonic on 16 May 2010 14:31 On May 16, 7:40 am, Bill <Billabo...(a)gmail.com> wrote: > In message <hsk4hm$r4...(a)news.eternal-september.org>, BillW50 > <Bill...(a)aol.kom> writes > > >Innews:hsi1ah$mh8$1(a)news.eternal-september.org, ~misfit~ typed on Fri, > >14 May 2010 11:17:31 +1200: > >> Didn't I read about two months back that the need for VT had been > >> quietly dropped? > > >> Yes, I thought so: > >>http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/b/windows7/archive/2010/03/18/wind.... > > >> HTH, > > >Well I stand corrected. Which happens once in a blue moon. ;-) > > My understanding is that the VT etc. isn't needed for XPMode now, but is > still worth having for speed. > > The problem with many laptops of the Vista and W7 generation and the > lack of "Stereo Mix" option in the record "mixer" is entirely separate > from the XPMode recording problem. XPMode has the advantage that you > don't need a separate XP licence to be legal, but my understanding is > that other virtualisation applications may be more versatile. However, I > really like the way I can run old apps in XPMode almost seamlessly, > without the virtual OS being at all obvious. > > I tend to stick to Lenovo, which I've been entirely happy with, and Acer > because I can understand how to get drivers from their websites. My > recent 2 Acers seem to have been much better in the hinge area, which > was always an Acer problem in my experience. Lenovo always seem to have > known how to make hinges. The Lenovo I'm typing on is very well designed > in that it is remarkably easy to access the fan and ducting area to > clean the dust out. > -- > Bill Thank you, Bill. Am close to going with Thinkpad X201. Shaun and Misfit have also helped customize the system. Only BillW50 keeps filling me with healthy doubts. The latest scare is CPU whine. Bill, is that latest Lenovo you were typing on one of the i3 i5 i7s? Now I hear when not particularly challenged they drop down into something called a C3 or C4 state which causes the CPU, or the wires around the CPU that power it, to whine or make "chirping sounds". There are a bunch of specific x201 complaints at http://208.74.204.134/t5/X-Series-ThinkPad-Laptops/X201-CPU-Chirping-Sound-Annoying/td-p/219773 but apparently it's a problem with many or most machines with the new processors. Dell even has a "hope it works" work-around in their KB: http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dsn/en/document?c=us&cs=19&dl=false&l=en&s=dhs&docid=0A7D5CD2E17F5125E0401E0A55176204&doclang=en Anyoned know anything about that? Paula
From: Pawlly Phonic on 16 May 2010 14:34 On May 16, 7:40 am, Bill <Billabo...(a)gmail.com> wrote: > In message <hsk4hm$r4...(a)news.eternal-september.org>, BillW50 > <Bill...(a)aol.kom> writes > > >Innews:hsi1ah$mh8$1(a)news.eternal-september.org, ~misfit~ typed on Fri, > >14 May 2010 11:17:31 +1200: > >> Didn't I read about two months back that the need for VT had been > >> quietly dropped? > > >> Yes, I thought so: > >>http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/b/windows7/archive/2010/03/18/wind.... > > >> HTH, > > >Well I stand corrected. Which happens once in a blue moon. ;-) > > My understanding is that the VT etc. isn't needed for XPMode now, but is > still worth having for speed. > > The problem with many laptops of the Vista and W7 generation and the > lack of "Stereo Mix" option in the record "mixer" is entirely separate > from the XPMode recording problem. XPMode has the advantage that you > don't need a separate XP licence to be legal, but my understanding is > that other virtualisation applications may be more versatile. However, I > really like the way I can run old apps in XPMode almost seamlessly, > without the virtual OS being at all obvious. > > I tend to stick to Lenovo, which I've been entirely happy with, and Acer > because I can understand how to get drivers from their websites. My > recent 2 Acers seem to have been much better in the hinge area, which > was always an Acer problem in my experience. Lenovo always seem to have > known how to make hinges. The Lenovo I'm typing on is very well designed > in that it is remarkably easy to access the fan and ducting area to > clean the dust out. > -- > Bill Thank you, Bill. Am close to going with Thinkpad X201. Shaun and Misfit have also helped customize the system. Only BillW50 keeps filling me with healthy doubts. The latest scare is CPU whine. Bill, is that latest Lenovo you were typing on one of the i3 i5 i7s? Now I hear when not particularly challenged they drop down into something called a C3 or C4 state which causes the CPU, or the wires around the CPU that power it, to whine or make "chirping sounds". There are a bunch of specific x201 complaints at http://208.74.204.134/t5/X-Series-ThinkPad-Laptops/X201-CPU-Chirping-Sound-Annoying/td-p/219773 but apparently it's a problem with many or most machines with the new processors. Dell even has a "hope it works" work-around in their KB: http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dsn/en/document?c=us&cs=19&dl=false&l=en&s=dhs&docid=0A7D5CD2E17F5125E0401E0A55176204&doclang=en Anyoned know anything about that? Paula
From: Bill on 17 May 2010 04:30
In message <2677e1e0-b172-4f05-8ed9-eb44c3e11c4a(a)s4g2000prh.googlegroups.com>, Pawlly Phonic <pawllyphonic(a)gmail.com> writes >Thank you, Bill. Am close to going with Thinkpad X201. Shaun and >Misfit have also helped customize the system. Only BillW50 keeps >filling me with healthy doubts. > >The latest scare is CPU whine. Bill, is that latest Lenovo you were >typing on one of the i3 i5 i7s? Now I hear when not particularly >challenged they drop down into something called a C3 or C4 state which >causes the CPU, or the wires around the CPU that power it, to whine or >make "chirping sounds". I have healthy doubts all the time. Especially about surveys. My latest Lenovo is quite old, its a 3000 N100, which I chose because it was on offer at the time, good value and came with Vista Business with a free XP downgrade. I use it on XP. My previous 'Lenovo' was an IBM R40 (I think), which had a trackpad plus trackpoint. I quite liked that, but occasionally the 'nipple' did get in the way. Both of these had firewire, which was essential for the audio interfaces I was using at the time. I know nothing about CPU whine, but this is a much older dual core T5200 processor. One of the Acers here is a 12.1 inch wide screen. It's a very handy size, but some text can be quite small and I do have to wear glasses for some work. I prefer to work with a number of laptops, each being used for a specific purpose, so mine are all much lower-end machines than the X201. Oh dear, while typing this I've suddenly got a loud clicking from the HD, so it's time to check the backups and look out the HD warranty. Can't blame Lenovo - I upped the 80gig one to 120 and then recently to 500. -- Bill |