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Ask HN: Quality of recent gens of Dell/Lenovo laptops worse than 10 years ago?

112 points ferguess_k | 3 comments | 01 Dec 25 14:47 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source

I have been purchasing used/new Lenovo/Dell laptops for the last 7 years, and I have noticed that the build quality of recent models is concerning.

Lenovo: Ex-company gave me a NEW Carbon X1 around 2019, and the battery only lasted for less than a year (!). On the other side, I bought a used 2017 470S from the same company, added more RAM, didn't touch anything including the SSD, and I'm still using it in daily coding. I did buy a new battery last month so technically the old batteries lasted for about 7-8 years.

Dell: I bought 3 laptops + 1 desktop from Dell Refurbished (So the quality should be consistent). 2 laptops + 1 desktop are older models, and 1 is Precision 5550 (2021) that I bought last December. Everything works fine, except for the 5550, which has issues with battery (dropped from 31% to 4% in a few seconds) and (more deadly) charging port (doesn't charge from time to time). Even if I bought it new in 2021, I would be surprised that it only lasted for a bit over 4 years.

The other issue is that 5550 uses USB-C ports. I blame on myself not checking it closely before the purchase. I really hate those ports. Why is everyone copying from Mac?

What's my option? I can't really justify the 2,000+ CAD price point for a new laptop, especially if it lasts less than 5 years. I'd prefer a "low-end" workstation with 32GB memory, but because of the price point I can only afford a 16GB non-workstation one. I don't do gaming any more but I still prefer a good integrated video card. I can't afford Framework and other Linux laptops because they are expensive and usually don't operate in Canada so delivery is expensive too.

I did buy a used Macbook Pro M1 16GB (2021) from my current company last month. I haven't used it but I'm confident that the hardware is good. The problem is I don't really like the software, so I figured I still need a Linux box.

Did you find any sweet spot?

1. greatgib ◴[02 Dec 25 00:34 UTC] No.46115715[source]▶
I miss so much the first generation of the Dell XPS 13 dev edition. I think that we were almost at the top of the curve in term of quality/price. Only a few things could have been fixed (like the webcam at the bottom of the screen) and it would have been perfect.

But, sadly, next generations went deep shit instead.

Nowadays, I have a very hard time selecting a laptop that would fit my needs, even disregarding the price. One of the worst feature in term of offender is the keyboard: Manufacturers are going on with this totally stupid unergonomic trend of having "half size" enter keys, removing page-up/page-down keys, and hiding directional arrows behind over keys needing to use the "FN+other_key" to be able to use the arrow.

replies(2): >>46117255 #>>46168096 #
2. ferguess_k ◴[02 Dec 25 03:43 UTC] No.46117255[source]▶
Jeez, the keyboards!

OK we probably have different preferences, but I really hate:

1. Arrow keys have different sizes

2. page up/down right up arrow keys (very easy to touch those accidentally)

So far I really love the Macbook Pro layout. I wonder why no one tried to copy it, considering they tried to copy everything else.

3. conductr ◴[05 Dec 25 22:16 UTC] No.46168096[source]▶
Not sure if it meets the performance criteria you would need, but the higher end Microsoft Surface Laptop is on par with Apple MBP build quality wise from my experiences. I got one from work a few years ago and it’s now my preferred non-mac laptop. I think their marketing is hurting them as I assumed it was the hybrid tablet Surface initially but they make a pure laptop too and that’s what I’m recommending