I’m seriously reconsidering my current machine setup. No particular reason, other than wanting to consolidate my various machines into one, get something more durable and a little more modern, with some additional horsepower needed for those more intensive applications.
See, I’m thinking about returning to school to study mechanical engineering from next year, and neither my 2012 MacBook Pro or 2015 MacBook Air are capable enough to handle the application workloads.
That, and a new machine would be nice. I’ve become more interested in decent tools, something robust, resilient and easily repairable, with good documentation and access to service parts. Not to mention AMD is building some excellent silicon at the moment, and I certainly wouldn’t mind making the switch into that camp either.
So earlier this evening, I come across this:
https://www.lenovo.com/au/en/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpad-a-series/ThinkPad-A485/p/22TP2TAA485
The 14" Lenovo ThinkPad A485 with AMD Ryzen Pro processor and AMD Radeon Vega graphics. This machine has user-expandable memory, storage and even battery options for additional runtime. It has dedicated USB-A and USB-C ports, HDMI and even Ethernet onboard. The keyboard is water resistant and the enclosure is glass-fibre reinforced polycarbonate. Lenovo even provides the service documentation and tools on their website for everyone to access.
To me, it sounds absolutely perfect. Sure, I’d have to discard my collection of applications and move back across to Windows, but it’s hardly a deal breaker. Not to mention that if I sold my current Macs as second hand, in the near immaculate and well-specced conditions they are, the returns would cover most - if not all - of the purchase price.
But…
I’m an Apple service technician. My first-hand experience is with Mac failures and failure rates, service procedures and corporate policies.
I have no experience with Lenovo, and as much as I can read reviews and listen to ThinkPad owners telling me how brilliant their machines are, they don’t address the questions I often ask to determine how good a product actually is. Like:
" What are some common issues to look out for with this brand? "
" Are they durable in practice? How well do they hold up after a few years of active service, both in electrical and structural (casing) terms? "
" Does the manufacturer make the product easy to service, and easy to get service when needed? "
But I know AppleTalk members are more clued in than the average consumer, and some are working in the industries that actually use these products every day. I know on a discussion board such as this one, there’s sometimes an inclination to steer toward an Apple solution, but setting that option aside for a moment (as it’s simply too expensive and doesn’t meet my other criteria), from experience - what does everyone think of the ThinkPad?
Or if not the ThinkPad, perhaps another machine make, model or brand I should be looking into?