ThinkPad under Lenovo has also gotten much worse to the point that I don’t really consider them anymore …
Last time I looked you couldn’t even buy a 2-in-1 with upgradeable memory (or RAM > 16 GB) anymore and for replacing the keyboard you now have to disassemble the entire ThinkPad. Unlike my L390 Yoga and X201 Tablet, where the RAM is slotted and where the keyboard can easily be changed by removing three screws (which is important to me, as I prefer US International over my local layout and I also value a clean keyboard when buying used). In my experience ThinkPad batteries also tend to loose capacity rather quickly? In addition we already have the second X1 Yoga with a broken hinge within three years of normal usage in my family (luckily this device has a five year warranty, so we’ll see if the warranty covers it) …
Maybe this has changed since the first L13 Yoga (haven’t read about any new hardware from Lenovo since then), but these were the main reasons why I decided to buy one of the last new L390 Yogas instead of its successor and why I no longer consider ThinkPads to be more desirable than any other laptop.
the TrackPoint
is nice and I prefer it to touchpads. But I don’t value it enough to still prioritise ThinkPads over other brands.
the keyboard
is no longer replaceable without disassembling the entire laptop (since the L13 Yoga Gen2). One of the things that made me prefer ThinkPads over the rest.
The typing experience is decent, but I could type just fine on other laptops as well.
Linux friendliness
In which way is a ThinkPad more Linux-friendly than others?
I mean, I can’t even use all the hardware I bought on Linux, as the fingerprint reader doesn’t have any Linux support, whereas older ThinkPads (up to the Yoga 460) had a fingerprint reader that worked great on Linux. I also haven’t received a single UEFI update on Linux through fwupd (I use Fedora if that matters).
I had an inexpensive Acer non-convertible laptop (bought without an OS from the factory) and a HP ENVY x360 (bought for its beefier AMD hardware, but eventually returned after attempts to fix the faulty digitizer failed multiple times) and Linux ran just fine on them as well.
officially allowed user repairability
I agree that it still is an advantage that Lenovo offers HMMs and spare parts.
But if I need to disassemble the entire laptop (which is something I really want to avoid) to replace a keyboard or most components are soldered, a hardware maintenance manual for ThinkPads is of much less value to me than it used to be.
durability superior quality
In which way are ThinkPads “superior quality” or “durable”?
