Lenovo removes modular batteries from high end Thinkpads.
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- Äas pĆidĂĄn 12. 07. 2019
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erm louis I agree, but look at the run times.. the p53 has 16hr the p52 10hrs... and it has fast charging.. so the trade off is as good as if not more than apple
The point is that making the battery non-removable does not carry any benefits. Not even one if we consider the P53 is thicker.
Iâm sorry, but what is the big deal with fast charging anyway? I mean, all my devices are usually close to dead when I get home. So I just charge them when I get home and take them off the charger when I go to bed.
The longer runtime has *nothing* to do with the battery, as the battery's wh is a *constant* that did not change from the P52 to the P53. That has to do with newer chipset, more efficient motherboard, and more efficient chipsets on the board of the newer model. This could have been achieved with the same battery utilized in the P52.
The old battery is 90 wh, as is the new one: learn.adafruit.com/all-about-batteries/power-capacity-and-power-capability the WH of the battery is *in no way dependent on the motherboard of the laptop it is attached to.*
This increase in runtime could have easily been achieved on the P53, if it used the same battery from the P52.
An A1466 from 2015 with an 820-00165 has a much longer runtime than an A1466 from 2012 with an 820-3209 board, even though they use the same battery.
@@alessandroceloria4573 P53 is with quadro rtx 5000, (dell and hp can only carry uo to quadro rtx 3000) it needs more space. So P53 cancels the 2.5 hdd and non-removable battery.
As stupid as saying you don't need changable battery on phones because capacity is large enough or charging is fast enough.
How about after 2 years when it starts to die? Get a new device?
This trend towards less repairability is just bad. Not a fan.
Yeah, sad that the industry gone that way.
Repairability is not impaired though. The battery is still replaceable, you just have to open the device.
definitely not a fan. seems to be a laptop.
They ruined their t series:
No bottom docking port
No hot swappable battery
Soldered in ram (t490&t590 partially)
No additional harddrive slot
Less magnesium frame...
I have not tested any of them but they look really underwhelming
What frustrates me the most is that these changes affect the "big" models too an not only the t490s where some that might actually benefit a smaller body
@@ithinkabout4369 any one who owns a laptop could replace a modular battery. Not as many people have the skills, ability or desire to tear down a laptop to get the battery out. As he said some laptops are made in such a way its easy to break them just trying to open them. So less its less repairable then before when it comes to changing out dead batteries.
Thinkpads without removable batteries aren't real Thinkpads.
I blame lenovo for this.
For real. Best thing about my thinkpad is that when its beefy design doesn't hold up, it's easy to repair. Makes it great for working out on odd sites.
@The uggster I have IBM belt :D
@The uggster yep that was a mistake by IBM
ThinkPads with soldered processors, soldered ram, flimsy chassis, non-removable battery, etc arent ThinkPads anymore...
The last ThinkPad-ish one was the t440p (and the other lineups of that same age), but with a bad chiclete/chocolate keyboard.
They are just think-flavoured ultrabooks nowdays.
Bitch you THOUGHTpad :3
Commented on the other video already, but saying it again anyway.
They already killed the X2xx series, they had insanely good battery life, the absolute best battery capacity in every laptop in the market: 96Wh with 24Wh internal battery + 72Wh external, hot swappable battery. In a 12.5" laptop. A real laptop. Oh, and replaceable SODIMM RAM.
I'd love seeing an ultrabook like that again. It doesn't exist anymore.
What is the best X2xx to buy now, in your opinion?
@@BadeniaFilme x270s were nice.
I have an X250 now and I miss the magnesium chassis of my old X200. So, I'd add the magnesium chassis to the list of features that Lenovo has removed. Also, the keyboard on the old X200 was superior to the chiclet garbage.
I also hate how the screen hinge on the x250 makes it so you can't hold the laptop from the rear and open it.
A question of taste, but I personally like the X240 (and up) design. Well except for the fact that X240 doesn't have physical buttons above the touchpad but that's fixed with X250.
X240 and up are also where the battery life really started taking off.
I have an X260 right now, had an X240 and an X131e in the past.
X270 is the last one that actually makes sense for my preferences.
@@piernov tbh I wasn't a fan of the x270 keyboard, the rest of the machine was nice though,
people buy thinkpads for very specific reasons, this goes against those reasons. its like they don't want to sell thinkpads
This does not go against any of the reasons I got a thinkpad and I believe the same applies to the most of thinkpad users. Removable battery is not a selling point. You can't type better because your battery is removable. You can't have longer lifetime because of it too.
@@nitrocaster I have been using thinkpads for 15yrs. Will be buying a surface because of the removable battery.
Chromebooks have become really good with Crostini lately. I'm seriously considering to replace my ThinkPad with a high-end Chromebook when the time comes. I'm going to miss the TrackPoint and it's hard to leave decades of ThinkPad fanboyism behind, but you have nobody to blame but yourself, Lenovo!
@Gab L You have just broke my heart.
@@nitrocaster It was the *only* reason i just popped >1000⏠on a t480, instead of a slimmer, sexier looking machine.
Lenovo has destroyed the Thinkpad line. They should go back to slotted ram and hot swappable batteries. If I want a thin and light Thinkpad, Iâd buy a X1 Carbon. Leave our workhorses alone Lenovo!
To be fair most of the industry has moved to this (including Dell in some models).
Have you tried panasonic toughbooks? They're quite thicc
@@at29c040a those things are more like militar stuff.
They are not a simple workstation, they are like tough enough to work while you're deployed in fcking Afghanistan
@@at29c040a toughbooks are for extreme scenarios
id love to have one but its too unwieldly to use in everyday normie life
T- and P-lineups have slotted RAM and some of the P-lineup laptops have swappable battery, e.d. P52s with 2 batteries: built-in and swappable one in three sizes.
Hey Louis!
I want to tell you an interesting story about my Lenovo laptop and right to repair.
I have a Lenovo ThinkPad X240 laptop, which I use for my university studies. One day, a mate called me to a random party, and as it happened, I had my laptop with me too. Because I finished late in the day, I was lazy to go back to the dorm before the party, so I brought my laptop with me there. As I've become totally wasted, I somehow broke my laptop's screen. Lesson learnt, never go to a party with your laptop.
As I'm studying computer science engineering, I was brave enough to repair my own laptop. Anyways, the original screen was a crappy 1366x786 TN display, so I tought, I will upgrade my screen to a nice 1920x1080 IPS panel. I ordered my panel from eBay, the listing mentioned an original replacement part number.
I received the new display flawlessly, the installation went well. The display worked fine, and was beautyful compared to the original one. One little problem through: I was unable to adjust brightness. I thought that the planel has problems but no, under Linux I was able to adjust the brightness. After reinstalling drivers, and later Windows all together, the problem still exists.
After reading online on forums, I've found that the Lenovo BIOS has a hardware whitelist... Cute. Burn my eyes out night, and drain my battery faster...
Windows uses vBIOS calls to determine basic hardware capabilities, Linux avoids that, and communicates driectly with the display itself. That's why my display brightness can adjusted under Linux, and not under Windows. The BIOS checks the display's EDID, if it isn't on the hardware whitelist, then it blocks brightness control.
After I reprogrammed the EPROM on the display's circuit board, that contains the EDID information, the display now works as it should. I flashed a whitelisted display's EDID on it.
Conclusion: not just Apple fights against right to repair...
"Get me a better battery and we'll talk about it" Keep in mind anything 100 watt hour or above cannot be taken onto a plane (only as carry on with permission), so there's not much room to improve. If I recall correctly, the highest rated extended battery I've ever seen is off the Dell Workstations at 97whr. But I agree with everything else in the video Louis.
This
Least they could do is add back the bottom port so we can use slice batteries again...
Yeah if Lenovo put 97whr battery Louis will definitely talk about it. Every Lenovoâs decision make me switch to Fujitsu Celsius laptop
Use environmentalism to force them to allow replaceable batteries.
As a European, I would be very pleased if the EU would legislate for that.
The battery is replaceable. So even if there were such a law, these laptops would not violate it.
"Replaceable by the consumer" should be the rule. With an exception only for full submersion waterproofing.
The batteries are replaceable and it could be twisted since the battery is replaceable, improper disposal of the battery is a danger so then companies then make it no-replaceable to make it where "Our product is enviromental friendly as it prevents improper disposal of the built-in battery". So no that is a bad and stupid idea.
Actually, I would rather let people vote with their wallets. The PC market is DEAD. Everyone is looking for good, reliable machines. Lenovo's products have no taste and no sex in them. Literally, they are a hot pile of garbage.
IBM should get their things back and support it with RedHat.
Unfortuanately IBM was a sellout to China
Not going to happen.
1 - IBM's priority is cloud. Peddling laptops is not on the agenda.
2 - You couldn't get an IBMer to touch RHEL Workstation.
@@1yaz Hey thats a bit extreme.... I have seen IBMer rise above their server room hut, and holding all sort of different linux distro in their laptop!
I am sure some of them will touch RHEL :D
@@armamentarmedarm1699 Only Linux holdouts are still using RHEL 7.x. Most people request MacBooks at IBM.
@@1yaz Yeah, thats true, just saying ''I have seen some'' doesn't mean they are not minority, worst still, the holdout are mostly server room camper.
Louis - Do companies ever contact you for product consult? Your insight would prove to be very valuable in development. Great video.
Companies fear this man, as he sheds the light on their ulterior motives.
They don't want input. These companies have completely stopped giving a fuck about the end user. There is so much bureaucracy in the process of making a product our input just doesn't fit into their reality.
Never. I lack the experience and education required to give any input they'd actually value.
They'd listen to him about everything they should do right and then do the opposite.
Louis Rossmann isnât your education just as good as Steve Jobsâ?
Your analysis is very refreshing -- BTW, your videos are excellent; good lighting, good sound, well paced and edited and your scripts are just the right length -- WELL DONE!
Also another thing to note Louis is the FAA limit for batteries of 100Wh. So Lenovo couldn't make it that much bigger. But granted, they still had room to, an extra 10Wh over the current 90Wh definitely helps.
I noticed this change in work when we started getting L480s instead of L470s, TBH the battery being non-modular isn't the biggest issue (unless you go through multiple batteries a day). For me the biggest issue is that because the batteries aren't modular they don't have to meet the same safety requirements and so to cut costs they aren't reinforced like modular ones are. What this means is that as the batteries approach EOL instead of just having reduced capacity they will physically swell up/expand and break the base off the laptop.
Luckily the x230, t430 and w530 are still amazing machines. Haven't felt the need to upgrade.
Yeah the 30 series is pretty solid
My main laptop is an old Asus UX31A... 3rd gen Core i5. My secondary laptop is a HP Probook with a 2nd gen i5 (slightly faster).
Why replace em when they still work and are fast enough for what I do with them? Especially when I know I can pop the covers and make repairs on these, while new laptops seem to be aiming to make even the SSD/HDD inaccessible.
T420 life forever
I have the X530 as my daily driver and I love it. I would like to have gotten the W530.
I bought my first laptop in over 7 years a week ago, fuckin hated the new looking laptops so I bought myself a T430 :D
I work in IT for a Healthcare company. We have purchased over 200 Thinkpad T570 and T580 laptops over the past 2 years. One of the main selling points for the 570 and 580 was the internal 3 cell plus the external 6 cell battery. With this setup we are able to get close to 16 hours of light use battery life from these machines. We are almost ready to order another 40 laptops and are currently in a rush to purchase T580's because the T590 has an abysmal internal non swappable battery setup.
For actual numbers the T series is even worse of a change than the P series.
T580 -
32Wh internal 3 cell+ 72Wh Cylindrical 6 cell rear battery = 104Wh
T590 -
57Wh internal 3 cell (no options for upgrades)
As an aside I would also like to quickly rant about the USB-C chargers Lenovo is now using. Lenovo switched from the rectangle charger to Type C for the T580. We've had ZERO charger failures out of roughly 120 T570 laptops deployed at our company. Of the roughly 80 or so T580 laptops which have been in use for a shorter time they have had a nearly 50% failure rate. The type C connector is great on a phone but on a larger device it is so fragile that one tug on the cord while it's plugged in will rip the end right off the charger.
For these few reasons I think we will be moving away from thinkpads when the time comes to upgrade these machines.
I don't know for sure, but does the 590 support USB-PD? External pack with a high enough output for a laptop might do the trick.
When Apple removes the headphone jack...
When Apple introduces the notch...
When Apple makes batteries unremovable...
When Apple fights against software mods...
When Apple removes SD slots...
Yeah this thing goes on and on... What's next? If Tim Cook commits suicide we'll see CEOs from Samsung, LG, Lenovo, Huawei etc. following him?
Lets hope
Cosmos yes, letâs hope
iPhone never had an SD card or expandable storage slot of any kind. So itâs not like itâs something that Apple took away.
Jim Taylor yes, but their macs used to have SD card slots.
Oh Shuddup! Quit being a little bitch.
Imagine the last phone from Microsoft, the Lumia 950, is probably the most perfect phone at that time. Top-of-the-line processors, nice OLED screen, good battery life( for the XL), the ability to use Windows Hello for facial unlocking( which is new at the time), USB-C charging port, removable back and battery, and really good rear camera.The only thing thatâs holding that phone back was the operating system. Microsoft made such a good phone, and they chickened out.
The Lumia line was quality through and through. I even enjoyed the windows OS's. Nokia and Microsoft did a lot of things right together. Centrally mounted camera lens, alphabetically sorted apps, facebook birthday reminders on the lock screen, to name a few. They were about 90% of the way there, and apps weren't the achilles heel.
Hi Louise. I enjoy your videos and rants. You makes some really good points in all your discussions.
Do you remember when cellphones used to be able to power on off the charge cable even when the batteries were dead?
Imagine being able to use your phone with just the charge cable plugged in for the whole week while waiting for the replacement battery to be delivered.
Nowadays, you can't use a cellphone with a dead battery even if the cable is plugged in. And I think some tablets and laptops are doing that too.
I know that it saves production cost and use less components with feature taken out, but it's a piss poor design for functionality and convenience.
Really enjoy watching your videos. Never stop!
I like you being that critic and analyzing. I respect this quality in people and in myself.
I think Lenovo should stop shipping batteries with their laptops. That way they'll be really really thin and light.
Substitute "Apple" where "Lenovo" is right now and you might be right.
It would be even better if Lenovo would stop shipping laptops altogether
I say that Lenovo should ditch everything apart from the screen.
They could make the battery optional DLC with a lockout chip to control how much of the battery the user is "authorized" to access.
@@JeffreyAbbinante Don't give Apple any ideas!
its all about cutting the life time and the repairability of these electronics to maximize profits like apple does so well.
Having had a number of Thinkpads apart, repair-ability on the T450s and newer is actually better than older models.
And just cutting cost in general. They can sell thinkpads for the same price still but without the expense of a separate component assembly (battery) when it's just taped into place of the main assembly of the laptop.
Hey, I remember I told you this on stream, glad to see you made it a video!
The microphone that you use is amazing, the quality is outstanding.
Noted it and purchased a T480 before they were discontinued.
And yes, I'm still using the LG G5 with its swap-able battery, refreshing it once a year with a brand new one for a mere $10
I find the move away from swap-able batteries mindless.
I completely agree with you Kent. My T480 was starting to struggle a bit with battery life. $100 later I have a new 72Wh battery attached to it and its a monster. I'd b very reluctant to buy a used laptop with an unswappable battery in it!
T480 also has the Thunderbolt issue...
@@neohubris I have a T480 and I get that 'software can be installed' warning every time I turn the thing on, I don't know what to do about it.
@@neohubris simply Google for the fix
Lol I saw this unfold on the recent AMA, was awesome.
Laptops are not tablets, companies need to stop trying to make laptops thinner, that's what windows tablets are for.
You inverted the logic here. Manufacturers make laptops thinner because reviewers and "influencers" tell them that thin and light is better and consumers make their purchase decisions accordingly.
If there truly was a market for modular, repairable,and easily upgradable laptops, manufacturers would make them. The truth is: people don't care. They don't upgrade their devices, they don't replace batteries, and they don't care about the hustles a repair shop needs to go through.
Vote with your money, don't just talk! Talk is cheap!
@@user-zq1ec4sc1v Portability is one aspect, sure and no one says that thin and light is bad.
What bothers me (and I guess the OP as well) is that there's less and less choice. Gone are the modular models that offered an optical drive bay that could be used as a second battery or hard drive cage.
Gone are PCI express card slots that allowed adding ports, LTE modems, etc.
Does everyone need that? No! But the problem is that laptops are moving away from being PCs and towards becoming smartphones.
And IMHO that's what tablets are for, if portability is your number 1 criterion.
well, most laptops in the past were way too thick and bulky. Thinner and lighter is a good thing generally, but they should draw the line somewhere and don't cut useful features just to make a thin laptop even thinner.
@@maximilianmustermann5763 Soon we will have laptops that cut your hands and behead/injure someone when dropped from a building.
His face of disappointment is priceless... This is true passion about your job.
Press F for respect!
Lenovo lost their minds after the 30 series of ThinkPads, nothing out of the ordinary
Could not agree more! Every generation from 2013 (T*40) and onwards has been more craptastic than the next! In 2013 they had the horrendous trackpad, not-easily replaceable keyboard, no battery "handle" and half-baked non-English keyboards. In 2015, no high-powered machines. 2017, terrible cooling. 2018, soldered RAM on the regular non-Carbon X and some T series machines. It just goes on and on and on. /rant composed on a W530
I am really enjoying my T485. Easy reparability, all major components with the exception of the CPU are easily replaceable. It has one 24wh battery that is under the cover. But it also has a removable battery that can use a 24wh battery, 48wh battery, or 72wh battery. The feel is great, the keyboard and trackpad work well as well.
But very good doorstops
@@Tsuroerusu The way things are going, the T460p might very well end up being my last ThinkPad.
Agree never purchased an apple device, lenovo was taken off our corp listing for the non changeable battery;
we now use unbranded devices. Samsung lost our business for removing the sd card slot. So be it, greedy corps always lose out when cost cutting. We buy around 400 laptops and 600 phones per year, their loss.
Not only that, but they also introduced PROPRIETARY LAN ports on their new X1 Carbon laptops which you will only find on Lenovo Laptops, and you'll need a special adapter to connect a standard LAN cable.
Excellent video. You should make a video talking about a good microscope and soldering pencil for laptop repairs.
I think he has already done that but then again things may have changed for his recommendations since then.
He has his recommended gear in the description of every video. I remember watching a video that was an hour or so long that is a full walk-through of the gear he recommends and why. Have a look through his channel, hes had quite a few videos on this stuff and if his preferences change there will very like be videos on it :)
Lenovo you were the chosen one. Anyone remember when Louis got his new p50 and its battery fell out from the slightest of movement? Good times
I don't understand non removable batteries.
Lithium batteries decline after 4 years.
I can't wait for fluoride-ion batteries to become mainstream.
With good care, some last a lot longer. In my case (2 ones), all batteries were about 40% dead when the laptops died.
Lithium batteries have become more durable in the last few years though. At least round cells like the 18650, most of them last extraordinarily long even in relatively bad conditions (like being fully charged almost 24/7 and so on). Only the more extreme LiPo packs with high ampere draw are still very delicate.
I have a bunch of V-Mount camera batteries (with some kind of larger round cells inside them) from 2008 and 2009 that have been fully charged for almost all of their long life, and they are still like 60-70% good and useable. They way they were stored fully charged all the time, they should have been totally dead five or six years ago, but they're still rocking.
Note that the Lenovo Vantage software that usually comes with these machines does contain a few very useful features, such as battery conservative mode, which keeps your battery around 60 percent charged so the longevity of the battery is extended. It's horribly programmed and will dial in every time it is used, but the features it has (switching off mike and camera from within the drivers, keyboard lighting etc.) are pretty useful. So there's that.
They can last a long time, just depends on usage pattern. If you are constantly draining them, their lives will be short. However the batteries are actually pretty easy to replace so meh.
fluoride-ion ? Does that mean less cavities?.....lol
As a field service tech, the removable battery is a lifesaver. I'm not usually near an outlet, but I still need to connect and troubleshoot machines, and I can not be taking time to charge randomly. Besides that the deep charge and discharge cycles destroy the lithium ion packs much quicker over time than partial drains, where having a replaceable battery is invaluable. HP did the same thing with their Zbooks, which is why I now have a P52.
I was planning to upgrade my W530 after seven years. It looks like I am still gonna use my W530 for the next three years. 10 Years of love and loyalty. Still as I bought it, and I use it every day.
90 wH is the max allowed on airplanes so it makes sense the battery wasnt increases but doesnt make sense to make it non removable
It's up to 100 Wh without approval. With airline approval you can have up to 2 x 160 Wh batteries as well. JetBlue lets you take a single 300 Wh pack! More info here: www.voltaicsystems.com/blog/lithium-battery-policy-airline/
The FAA gives airlines the final say on whether to allow batteries bigger than 100 Wh. It only has 2 outright prohibitions : 2 spare batteries (over 100Wh) maximum per passenger and NO loose batteries in checked baggage. FAA info here : www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/whatcanibring/items/lithium-batteries-more-100-watt-hours
@@Tooob good to know m8 thanks
Still, without the need of all the locks and hinges end encapsulation for the battery they could've made it slimmer. Or us the space for something else.
But the thing is, a swappable battery is a good feature to keep on Thinkpads for professionals
So Louis I agree with ya.
I was just thinking if buying one. Thanks for this.
I was considering buying a Thinkpad in the fall. It looks like I'll be reconsidering that purchase. Thanks Louis.
Dammit Lenovo, people want a Thinkpad, not a Thinkdifferentpad
I have a Toshiba Quasmio gaming machine (7yrs old) that still holds up very well. A 500gb SSD turned it into a rocketship.
But the battery went bad. Typical of Toshiba batteries. When it went bad it crashes my machine trying to charge it. Battery out... and no crashing.
I say no to sealed batteries.
If you're in Europe, try Greencell batteries. If they make them for that model, their Pro and Ultra lines are pretty good.
First third party batteries that I don't worry about blowing my house up, which, with the state of the market, I'd say is a ringing endorsement!
But seriously, finding not sucky batteries for anything over 3 years old is a damn chore.
Toshiba make awesome laptops.
@@Olivia-WThanks, I'm in the US, but will still look those batteries up. Maybe I might be able to get one. Its better than no battery. Lol
@@michaelmacquarrie6850 I love my Quasmio. More of a desktop replacement at 9 pounds... but its always been a powerhouse for gaming for me.
I'm glad I bought a P52 on the seventh instead of waiting for the P53 to be on sale now.
If you are interested in another nice story about the P53: I ordered the notebook with 512GB SSD and I meant to order it with a 2.5" HDD too. But then I noticed that Lenovo only offers a 1TB drive so I settled for the SSD and decided to install a bigger HDD myself. I was pretty surprised when I learned that the empty slot for the 2.5" drive was neither equipped with a bracket nor with a cable to install an additional drive. Instead it seems Lenovo sells the brackets and the cables in so called storage kits to make some extra bucks... Well, this is annoying and a little lame but what the hell, right? But then I learned that there is no storage kit for the P53, that it is unsure if there will be and that there is virtually no way to install a drive in the 2.5" slot if you haven't ordered your notebook with some drive in this slot. I went to the German and English Lenovo Forum and there are tons of people impacted by this problem - I'm a little surprised nobody on CZcams has addressed the issue so far...
I think all batteries should legally be user serviceable. and proprietary batteries should be illegal as well.
I think batteries should be user serviceable for safety reasons, but proprietary batteries Illegal? Kiss alot of innovations goodbye theb.
I agree proprietary batteries have their place and are often justifiable. Just vote with your wallet.
proprietary batteries should be illegal... Wow, that possibly the worst idea I have heard of in a while.
You want LI-PO batteries to be standardized and have sizes like AA/AAA/C/D batteries so you can go to Walmart and buy a generic battery made at the cheapest possible price, bought below market value, and put on the shelf with specs that are nowhere near accurate? No thanks. I would actually prefer laptop manufactures be held liable for the quality parts in their units and not some fly by night manufacturer in China that the local retailer purchased it from. Not to mention what something like that would do to limit future product designs.
They just will not sell battery.
@@bobdan9856 need to make that illegal
Lenovo's "High end" Thinkpads ended after they started modernizing their aesthetics.
Take a look at the ThinkPad P53 and tell me that it looks "modern".
I'll customize my X230t before working with any of this present day garbage.
@@kuramarosetta8193 Actually, it is removing features that is a move towards the past. If you adapt to that, you get stuck in the past. Lenovo is removing more and more features every year. RJ45 port? Removed. Hot-swappable battery? Removed. Upgradeable RAM? Removed. Etc. I wonder what they will remove next year. Yes, everything comes to an end, but that doesn't mean you should remove everything just because everything comes to an end. Things should come to an end when they are bad, or when you have no other choice but to get rid of them. Don't take for granted what some marketing department somewhere decided to do, try to think and see if things are actually an improvement or a mistake. Nothing is worse than being stuck in the past while being sure you're moving forward.
My P52 has room for three drives, 128GB RAM and a swappable battery. I never buy this years flagship. I buy LAST years flagship for less money after it's proven. BTW get the latest BIOS flash if you get a P52 so it doesn't brick.
The chiclet keyboard was the beginning of the end
Love my old Thinkpad X201. Daily driver with Manjero.
I used to own a couple of thinkpads myself. T61, X220, X230. The X220 was my favorite. That keyboard... When i started looking for a replacement for the X230 this year, i was very disappointed what was on offer. And the P51 which i have at work didn't make me want a new thinkpad. So i decided to come from a different angle.. and bought something cheap, with modern hardware, and crazy low spec from acer of all manufacturers a SWIFT1. N5000 CPU with 4Gigs of RAM. It's not a great laptop, but i have gotten used to the keyboard. And the battery life is decent, while the machine is thin and light.
I will not spend any actual money on a new laptop until one of the manufacturers show something that's worth the cost. And for the time being i am savoring what the average user experiences. And this i think makes me a better developer. But i really home that in a couple of years i can upgrade to something that will actually be a pleasure to work on.
Lenovo went from the best to mediocre in about 5 years time. From the power users obvious choice to yet another manufacturer. HP is still worse.. but not by much anymore. and DELL clearly does better stuff, even if theirs isn't worth purchasing either.
Many of you mentioned that goverments should treat this as a planned obsolescence and recycling issue. And i agree. I see the opportunity to have machines that have the same form-factor motherboards in different chassis , over the whole product line. And upgradeable motherboards. that can go in older housings. A bit raspberry Pi like. With removable SSD-s and a couple of RAM slots. And replaceable batteries. This would actually make sense for the manufacturer aswell. There will be no question from whom i buy my next motherboard from. Or my next screen, or chassis. And by stagering my hardware upgrade, i could afford to pay more at a time. But hey. Who am i to tell these guys how to run their business. I am just rational.
I really miss legendary made in USA IBM ThinkPad. They were the absolute best PC laptop.
IBM. Please save the ThinkPad name.
Pleaaaase! Save it from doom!
Except they sold ThinkPad to Lenovo, this isn't the old IBM days anymore.
@@ipwn3r123 I am aware that the brand was sold. I just want IBM to get it back to bring back the good ol' days of the good ThinkPads. Lenovo is just soiling the reputation of the ThinkPad line now.
ahhh the good old days of ThinkPad [MEME]
@@3DKLUB Well, you can't deny that the reputation and quality of ThinkPads have been degrading since Lenovo bought the brand.
IBM had no more interest in making ThinkPads, because they were losing money like crazy. Thats why they sold the business to Lenovo in the first place. Unlike IBM, Lenovo makes a profit with ThinkPads.
This is the type of content I subscribed for
I was able to buy my T410 work computer with docking station from my employer for 50 euros when they upgraded to T420. I loved it but it was an absolute beast to lug around. It was like lego to repair. I've now got a t460s, which is a decent compromise of repairability and portability for my budget
My reason for liking Lenovo laptops was the older ones with a second battery that was internal so you didn't even have to shutdown to swap the battery. This just feels like a step backwards.
I used to carry 2 externals with my 2007 mbp.. when they went to glue in I stopped buying crapple.
I recently bought an E590 series Thinkpad for my grandfather. He needed a laptop that could survive a fall or two, be reasonably powerful for some of the software he has, and I could easily upgrade over the years to battle his stinginess in keeping up with electronics.
When I bought it, nobody had yet found out about the batteries being behind the bottom of the casing. The battery is still replaceable, but to be honest it's got me worried that I can't put a larger one in there like I did with his old laptop. Everything's internalized, and getting the casing off is a serious pain.
Lenovo went backwards on this one.
It's a very good point!! Many airlines are now restricting the size of a battery you can travel with (carry-on)... so this could end up becoming a major problem (there was a recent spate of 2018 Macbooks that couldn't be travelled with for very reason.
Interesting, I just bought a new laptop, and while the one I bought might have the same problems, I discounted Lenovo for these exact reasons, non interchangeable battery and no SD card.
Is there a perfect laptop out there? Or close to perfect?
Is there a company that hasn't fucked everything up yet?
What is this "SD card" thing you're talking about? Some kind of ancient technology?
@@Optiplex321 SD cards are still hugely relevant if you're a photographer. One less dongle to drag around all day
@@Optiplex321 you know that Reflex cameras still use those right? Even high end ones.
@@Toma.s w520 ThinkPads are still solid PC's I hate the fact that a lot of people are having to turn to gaming laptops tp place their professional ones because ThinkPad fucked up that bad
I really hate laptops with single Headphone jacks and non removable batteries, Batteries are generally dangerous and can Bloat thus they need to be removable easily and not only that.
if you runt out of juice,, you can just swap it with another to get your work going,
Non-removable battries give NO advantage of ANY sort, unless you make a Laptop Waterproof...
M-W-Y
There are many benefits of using unremovable batteries...
But it depends on what kind of people the company is selling these laptop to, and for Lenovo to do this to this line of laptops is utter stupidity...
@@hamzahaytham3940 Yes indeed there are Laptops which can massively benefit from this type of Battery (LG Gram being one)
but high end Laptops which are made for more then simple work need to have at least a removable battery that doesn't require you to open the entire thing up like an Ipad.
(in my case my 3D Rendering can heat up my laptop badly and cause the Battery to heat up as well and bloat dangerously so I prefer to remove it and work plugged in)
in the end ALL of this is done so that people will end up paying directly to the company for battery changes then just buying the battery and doing it themselves,
its just like making a car whose wheels are internal and thus cannot be changed unless you dismantle the entire car up and disconnect the Wheels directly from the engine.
Bought a T480 two weeks ago, for it being the last machine with a hot-swappable battery. Very happy I made that decision. It's horrendous they're doing this to such beautiful power horses, with seemingly no gain.
Thank you for that info, Louis!
In my opinion, if a company is releasing a new or updated product, then it should be better in almost every way, and if there is some things that arenât better, then at the very least they should equal the performance of the previous generation design.
Thank you for all the great videos đ
Lets cut the crap: its about planned obsolence since lenovo knows most people wont change the battery and instead get a new laptop
And maybe they want to cut down the re-sales of used business laptops. A lot of people are buying used Thinkpads from re-sellers, they are usually the best option in the 300-700 Euro range (or Dollar for that matter). Now if you know that changing the battery isn't easy and will have to be done by a service technician, maybe you won't buy that used Thinkpad next time and rather get a new Lenovo consumer laptop in the same price range.
@@maximilianmustermann5763 arent ex biz laptops always banged up?
People don't neccesarily buy from the same brand. So no, not planned like you think
They consider 4-5-year-old computers obsolete, so it doesn't matter. Many people still need to use it beyond its design life though. Cell phones are especially prone to this nonsense.
@@ingusmant Nope, many times they are in much better condition because the ones that are treated badly you never see.
The battery is still removable, its just now under the plastic cover
Bottom: files.catbox.moe/1dbhvu.jpg
Without cover: files.catbox.moe/qtqqv8.jpg
Its still inferior yeah but not exactly that bad.
I think(pad) in this particular is more related about thermals. P53 is in fact more thicker, so with non removable battery there is more room for airflow, in order to handle the power hungry i9 and Quadro RTX5000 combo.
The last ThinkPad that really impressed me where in the t6x family. Although over 10 years old people still use them today and with a couple minor upgrades they are quite usable even after 10 years. This series was also the last sold with the IBM brand name, that should explain a lot.
I swear they are destroying Thinkpad I want to buy T495 Ryzen. Then I noticed that they removed the external battery. I refuse to buy it.
Same. I was checking all the time just waiting to see what new innovation the T490 would bring.
And it's a T470 with an internal battery.
@@retrogaminggenesis6102 I just bought a 470 because 480 and 490 were ...meh...but proc on 470 is dual core only at least 480 and 490 have 4 core. Will be happy with my 470 running Linux.
SAME! I was upset at first for buying the Ryzen 1st genThinkpad A485, because the screen brightness sucks compared to T495
but finding out about the battery non removable very upsetting.
@@JudgeD-hc9vw T480 has swappable battery and 8th gen cpu. So IMO the last real thinkpad. Could get a 480 and 495 for same price, chose the 480. SD card slot missing is a pain too.
Maybe this way you will be able to trick your girlfrend into getting a Lenovo Macbook :D
LO0L
Just call it a Lenbook :)
@@FuldeFillip It's called a ThinkBook, actually.www.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/thinkbook-series/c/thinkbook-series
The machine type starts with 20** so this is definitely an T/P/X-grade machine. (I know this because my internal support with Lenovo refuses to talk to us about any laptop/mobile machine type not belonging to a T/P/X machine).
Kent Teffeteller finkpads cum ard alikE
I mean, the newest ones are even available in silver... lmao. :V
I have a 7 year old laptop that I use daily and it works just fine...
but I was just perusing laptops the other day and noticed NOBODY does removable batteries anymore. What the hell????
I had a Thinkpad in college, except for the garbage design on the heatsink pipes that let my graphics card fry TWICE (foam heat transfer pad would fail and kill the processor on the card in no time) that thing was built to last forever. Literally wore off the faces of the keys, smooth as glass, and still every key worked. INCREDIBLE manuals, step by step how to do everything but replace smds.
I just sold my T480 which I bought a year ago and never used because my T460 is gratefully still working after all these good years.. but now I'm having regrets swappable battery is a must want option for a thinkpad and T480 being the last mondel in series to have this option! I hope I will be finding a new one when I need one :(
Vote with your money! Unfortunately, a lot of dumb people have done that also, hence this BS.
We all buy second hand ThinkPads from a decade ago to avoid the shit 1366x768 panels, trashy chiclet keyboard and dodgy build quality though.
Unfortunately Lenovo was the only decent laptop mfg. Dell/HP/Acer, etc are all junk.
Yeah. I ended up getting a used X250 and I don't really regret it for now!đą
this only works if there is any real option out there to get as an alternative.
Unfortunately the purchasing departments for multi-million dollar companies really don't give a shit about "voting with your money". We're pretty much powerless here. Honestly, I was considering investing in a P-series but they are way underspecced for their price anyway.
Lenovo killed the ThinkPad when they swapped the classic keyboard with a chiclet keyboard
Nah man I really like the chiclet keyboard. Thinkpads are thinkpads because of their modularity and serviceability not because they used a slightly updated keyboard design.
Keep them in check Louis!!!! I applaud you!!!!
This makes it cheaper to manufacture, and your average consumer just doesn't care. Battery life has improved due to better battery technology and better power management, so by the time the battery is a problem the consumer is likely to be ready to buy a new one anyways. While I agree with you, the masses just don't care. The amount of apathy most people have toward this stuff, and willingness to simply open their wallets and say "whatever", is mind-blowing.
Its TIME, new motherboard makers need to make custom motherboards for last gen repairable pc. for example I would like to change my xps motherboard instead of the whole laptop if I want the new cpu and gpu.
A portable PC form factor would be awesome. Given gaming in ITX is a popular thing now, it wouldn't be a big step to go portable.
Look up the ThinkPad X210 - it's an X200 with a custom motherboard and upgraded display. You can purchase the whole completed PC for around $1100, or just buy the board itself
@@bradleyhove4177 it's NB-51 and if you have trust and patience, go ahead
A 51nb X210 will be my next laptop then.
Good choice, the guys at 51nb understand the point of the ThinkPad brand way more than Lenovo.
I had no idea about 51nb. That does seem like the best option though.
I have a Lenovo X1 (2018 model) and it has a sealed battery too. Not sure of the wattage, but the battery life is pretty good. I usually go at least 2 days between charges, sometimes more.
The difference is in use case - that's an Ultrabook, it makes sense to have a sealed battery. What Louis is talking about is their high end workstation, which is not thin or ultraportable by any means, and that would be better suited with a removable battery
Right on, Louis. I couldn't agree more!
I was seriously considering to buy a P53, after a very long waiting and this is the gift from Lenovo?
One of the major points to buy that machine was the battery, a rarity today. I'm very disappointed. I don't like it
My ThinkPad x240 has both a user-replaceable battery and and internal battery, so you can swap your replaceable battery while keeping the laptop turned on.
I like its keyboard
@Tone. Agreed. I have an X220t, which is one of the last Thinkpads to have the classic keyboard.
You are absolutely correct with this one
Well on the bright side, that combined with the fact the power button only works when the computer is either completely on or completely off makes it a whole lot harder for hackers to bypass the login screen with the classic startup repair exploit. It used to be so that you could just drag out the battery just when windows was booting, then when you turned it on again, it would initiate the startup repair screen, but allowing you to initiate any of the advanced options without the need for a user admin's password, essentially allowing anyone with 5 minutes on your computer to contruct a backdoor on it simply by tampering with the system files.
After decades, I no longer have any interest in Lenovo. The killer was using an HP type keyboard and HP does HP better than Lenovo.
Apple: we can make battery non-removable.
Lenovo: hold my battery.
Thanks Louis! The Lenovo Tab e8 also has an extra glue tape strip around the sides of the LCD to the digitizer. The toughest digitizer that I have replaced so far on a tablet. Also I could only find one place in China that had the digitizer for $27USD.
I did not replace the glue strip between the LCD and digitizer and it works just fine. The kids don't get this one back...:)
I got a ThinkPad P51 with I7 7820HQ, M1200, 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD, couldn't be happier. Next upgrade will be the last one, T15G/P52
Louis should simply make his own laptop company.
These would be his supporters.
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lenovo you were supposed to be the chosen one.
I hope this is a tool (rosetta stoned) reference.
You were supposed to destroy Apple, not join them
Oh crap! I thought it was about some lower end model. It is NOT ok to mess with the real stuff. Well thankÂŽs for the update Louis. My W540 has a lot of life left, and now i know that i have to keep my eyes open when looking for a replacement. BTW: I think itÂŽs a bit crappy when they give you a non-swapable with 90 Wh when my older got a swapable 99 Wh-battery.
Hello Louis, Where do you get the mcbook PCB Schemes ? and what program do you use to inspect them ???
I think 90wh is the legal limit of which you can bring on an airplane... just saying they couldn't have given the laptop more battery even if they wanted to and/or had the space for it.
Also, i don't really mind having the battery built in as long as the build quality and the portability of the device is improved, now that might not be the in the Lenovo thinkpad but it is in many others, i don't think the LG gram would've been anywhere near as light if it had a removable battery.
The limit is 100 Wh per battery.
it's airplanes, the max. capacity allowed is, depending on the type of airplane and company, around 95-105 Watthours which would make improvements useless, because why would you need a laptop when you can't even take it onto a plane? yea, you should be able to replace it, but meh. They couldn't increase capacity...
They could have bumper it to 100, but yeah, not much more they can do because of airline restrictions.
@@brp_ No, they also have customers in Europe and Asia and there the limit is 90-95Wh...
The think pad has been the only laptop ive ever owned. Back in 2004 i got my first one when it was still IBM branded and am currently using a t450s. As a thinkpad fan. These are dark times.
Great and informative video for someone (me) who isn't very knowledgeable about laptops or hardware. I have one question, something that confused me watching the video. Is there something in the specs that states that the battery on one laptop is modular and the other isn't, or is that something we just have to read elsewhere and/or figure out on our own?
TL;DW: The batteries aren't removable, the battery life isn't any longer and the laptop isn't any smaller.
Thoughts on Apple soldering SSD in 2019 13" macbooks?
Lol not old joke
I loved the layout of Dell's C-series Latitude in the late 90's. One bay dedicated to a battery and one bay that could be used for floppy/CD/2nd HDD/battery/empty dummy (to save weight).
In my opinion, if an ordinary user can't swap out a battery in a device the manufacturer should be required to swap the battery without charging for the work/shipping and be forced to accept a customer supplied battery as long as it fits without modification.
The bridge battery system is why I settled on a P52s for my desktop replacement system, because it will become my international travel notebook in 4 years or so after I am no longer worried about traveling with a (no longer) $2000 laptop.
So what modern laptops do you recommend, Louis?
Obviously, don't continue to buy products that are defective by design.
3:47 "up to 10 hours" 4:00 "up to 16.5 hours. includes rapid chart technology." they put a higher quality battery in it.
both are still "90wh," but boasting more than a 50% increase in longevity (with the same addendums) surely means higher quality.
im in NC so i may be a bit bias.
sorry, didn't notice the reply you left to a comment that was similar to mine. i have a very skeptical mind. "there are lies, damned lies and statistics." so i'm always looking.
anyway, the fact that the increased the longevity of the battery through changes in the hardware/software is irrelevant. they did increase the battery life by more than 50%.
i don't see a point to arguing the thickness. it's still a laptop and therefor not a real computer. i"m really old school. a "laptop" is the thing you use until you can get back home to the "real" desktop computer.