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I won't be in the market anytime soon for a new laptop, but the detailed review below caught my fancy, especially when coming from the kind of Apple 'fanboi' the tech press seems to be rife with. Will hardware be the saving grace for Microsoft in the PC arena?

The Surface Book 2 is beyond great. It's a hit with a few tiny misses that make you scratch your head, but don’t ruin the experience. That’s an unfortunate distraction, because there are so many great things about it that it’s worth owning.

Prices are really steep, ranging from USD 1,200 up to a maximum of 3,300...



Product webpage: www.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/devices/surface-book-2/

I've heard positive reviews from friends who own one, but unfortuantely recent Surface devices have not seen good reliability ratings from Consumer Reports (https://www.consumerreports.org/laptop- ... r-reports/) and another review which I can't seem to find.

That said, a positive review from Wired:
https://www.wired.com/2017/06/review-mi ... ce-laptop/

Ultimately I think it comes down to an excellent laptop with poor build quality. Also, Microsoft isn't really known for their customer support, the only fix seeming to be shaming them on social media until they reach out to you.

As much as I found this product interesting, I wouldn't spend a dime on much more reputable kit and much less on anything M$ -- who I know for a fact is keen on screwing any user given half a chance-- hence the interrogation in the topic's subject.

FYI, I went full ThinkPad (Lenovo) over a decade ago and, although that isn't as clear cut an option anymore*, never ever regretted it.

I'm just keeping my eyes peeled here for hardware trends should the need arise.

*) E.g., I just had a quarter long ghastly experience trying to downgrade/customize the setup of a brand new Lenovo Yoga. Granted, Yogas aren't ThinkPad branded for a reason.

Midas wrote: ↑Sat Jul 14, 2018 3:42 pm...FYI, I went full ThinkPad (Lenovo) over a decade ago and, although that isn't as clear cut an option anymore*, never ever regretted it....

Lenovo/IBM ThinkPad's local appreciation:

1. Lenovo/IBM ThinkPad R61i, Win XP, bought new around 2008, still ticking nicely ten years later,
    merely calling for one cooling fan DIY "open-heart" surgery swap...

2. Refurbished Lenovo ThinkPad T420, Win7, bought around 2015 for ≈US$ 300, still going strong as of today

Noteworthy about Lenovo "classic" ThinkPads

• availability of spare parts for Ye olde models
• availability of impeccably produced, detailed and illustrated hardware service manuals

Case in point:
R61i Maintenace manual
T420 Maintenance manual


And, FWIW, some guidance about selecting refurbished ThinkPad machines

Midas wrote: ↑Sat Jul 14, 2018 3:42 pm M$

It's like 2003 all over again and I'm on a local forum full of schoolboys with ancient hardware and couple of trolls with penguin avatars and "M$ Must Die" signatures

What's with the sudden outburst ?

billon wrote: ↑It's like 2003 all over again and I'm on a local forum full of schoolboys with ancient hardware and couple of trolls with penguin avatars and "M$ Must Die" signatures

Please excuse the old geezer who's been around long enough to have been screwed by M$ more than a fair number of times. And by the looks of it, at the pace modern hardware is running, it could really be 2003.

@__philippe: the domestic ThinkPad livery nowadays is mainly a heavily customized Win7 x220 -- but there's a T61 (noisy fan, too) and a x60 still around (both XP)...

Old thread update ...

__philippe wrote: ↑Sun Jul 15, 2018 6:28 amAnd, FWIW, some guidance about selecting refurbished ThinkPad machines

After a bit of digging, I found that guide again. It's moved over here: https://www.bobble.tech/free-stuff/used ... yers-guide

__philippe wrote: ↑Sun Jul 15, 2018 6:28 am Case in point:
R61i Maintenace manual
T420 Maintenance manual

As someone who works in this area a lot, those are very good.

I've mostly had very good experiences with ThinkPads and Dell Latitude products as well. Still have a Latitude 610 that works perfectly with XP and an older LXLE 14.04 Linux, but is seeing it's age. Both products are more business oriented and tend to have very good service manuals that are relatively easy to find. I have an older D600 that has the "cold solder joint" issue with the BIOS and can be a pain to get booted and recently was given a D630 that I have running Vista Business and Mint 19.3 quite well.