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While it's common to list only the newest supported speed revision, pretty much any 802.11ac chipset is likely to be dual-band and support 2.4GHz 802.11b/g/n as well as 5GHz a/n/ac. The specific AC chipset which shipped with the T450s according to its specs is an Intel 7265 - this is a dual-band model, so you should be good. Eletriarnation fucked around with this message at 22:45 on Dec 20, 2023 |
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Dec 20, 2023 22:43
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I would expect a laptop released nine (9) years ago(!!?!) to have 2.4ghz fallback capability yeah. In 2015 about 90% of all WiFi was 2.4. But no guarantees. I would spend the extra $20 on eBay and get a T480 at least. That thing is a god-damned dinosaur
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Dec 20, 2023 23:06
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Outside of very specific devices related to network management, anything that has 5ghz will have 2.4ghz too, if for no other reason than 2.4 had better material penetration and usually better range in something like a house. The router I just bought now has 4 different networks (2.4, 5, 6ghz, and a multi band network). So yeah, it'll keep going back.
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Dec 20, 2023 23:15
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Tangentially related, but my 2023 laptop has a Mediatek WiFi chip and while it supports both 2.4ghz and 5ghz, the 2.4ghz connection has inexplicable latency issues for no discernible reason. Works fine enough for browsing or streaming video, but noticeable issues while gaming. 5ghz is completely fine. This was tested across several different networks in completely different locations so it wouldn't have been local interference. Other devices on the same networks had no issues, including the previous laptop this new one was replacing.
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Dec 20, 2023 23:17
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I don't think I've ever heard of an end-user device that only supported 5 GHz without any 2.4 GHz support since 802.11a was still relevant. They exist in special purpose applications like long range wireless bridges but anything a normal person is expected to be holding supports both. Definitely any laptop from a major brand. Maybe in a few years when 6 GHz support is mainstream we might see some devices start dropping 2.4 GHz, but it's going to be a while because there are still tens of thousands of new devices being built every day with ONLY 2.4GHz support.
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Dec 20, 2023 23:26
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isndl posted:Tangentially related, but my 2023 laptop has a Mediatek WiFi chip and while it supports both 2.4ghz and 5ghz, the 2.4ghz connection has inexplicable latency issues for no discernible reason. Works fine enough for browsing or streaming video, but noticeable issues while gaming. 5ghz is completely fine. Any errors in the windows logs? I'd bet its probably getting caught in frequent reboot loops or something. I assume you've tried different drivers? Otherwise 5GHz or get a USB NIC or something.
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Dec 20, 2023 23:27
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Hadlock posted:I would expect a laptop released nine (9) years ago(!!?!) to have 2.4ghz fallback capability yeah. In 2015 about 90% of all WiFi was 2.4. But no guarantees. What advantage would I get from that? It looks like the T480 isn't even FHD. My current laptop is an L530 and the only problems with it are that its antenna doesn't connect to 5ghz networks, and various components have failed.
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Dec 20, 2023 23:33
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Lockback posted:Any errors in the windows logs? I'd bet its probably getting caught in frequent reboot loops or something. I assume you've tried different drivers? Otherwise 5GHz or get a USB NIC or something. None that I could see but it's possible I missed it. From looking at the tracert output it looked like every half dozen packets or so one would have a big latency spike, I don't know if a driver can reboot so quickly that it can continue a trace that seamlessly. I tried updating the drivers to the latest available and it didn't fix it. It's only an issue while gaming so I decided it wasn't worth the effort to dig into it any further. I just have to make sure I'm connected to the 5ghz while at home.
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Dec 20, 2023 23:48
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It's been a LOOONNNGGGG time since I did any driver writing/fuckery but there's a concept of a soft reset that can feasibly be done in a few 100 ms and pick up right where it left off, but A) Not sure if that would give the behavior your seeing and B) I guess a failing transmitter/antenna on the 2.4GHz side is more likely. I guess another thing to try is the power settings in case Windows is telling the card to go to sleep in the middle of a session and them immediately waking it back up. But I think you just have a dying nic.
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Dec 21, 2023 00:17
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The particular listing for the T480 you saw maybe wasn't FHD but there are plenty of FHD T480s for sale on eBay.
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Dec 21, 2023 00:20
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I am considering replacing my ThinkPad T490s. It was (still is) a great machine. I like that it's sleek, light, very quiet, with a battery which still lasts most of a day. Its direct successor seems to be the ThinkPad T14s Gen 4. Do I just go for that? My T490s has an Intel Core i5-8365U. Of all the CPUs available for the T14s Gen 4 it looks like the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 7840U offers a pretty significant performance uplift. Does that come at the expense of say heat, noise, battery life? I use Windows so I'm hoping there aren't going to be driver issues? There's also the ThinkPad X1 Carbon. Maybe my eyes are going but it looks like there's no significant difference in specifications at all between the T series and the X series? Am I reading this right? But they're significantly more expensive? And also no AMD CPUs? What's the deal? What's the extra money going toward? EDIT: also, is CPUmark meaningful? Doom Mathematic fucked around with this message at 00:33 on Dec 21, 2023 |
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Dec 21, 2023 00:30
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My work laptop is an X1 Carbon - all you're paying for is that it's lighter and minutely thinner than the T14s. Same specs otherwise, and in practice I wouldn't be surprised if performance is a bit worse because a thicker chassis will be better at staying cool. It wouldn't be worth the premium if I had to pay it, but since work gives me the option and the heaviest load I run is Outlook I might as well.
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Dec 21, 2023 00:47
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NotNut posted:What advantage would I get from that? It looks like the T480 isn't even FHD. My current laptop is an L530 and the only problems with it are that its antenna doesn't connect to 5ghz networks, and various components have failed. If you're running Windows 10 it will be out of support in October, 2025. Windows 11 only support 8th gen and newer intel CPUs. I'm about to take my work PC from a T450s with the i5-5300U to an Elitebook 840 G5 with a i5-8250U to make the windows version leap. I don't love HP stuff but at least it has a trackpoint and is easy to work on since the entire bottom unscrews to give access to all the gubbins. edit: I paid like $200 for a used T450s from a goon in SA-Mart in 2019. I'm sure anything 7th gen and under is very cheap now because it's both old and folks are trying to get rid of it prior to it only officially running an unsupported OS, but I'd try to get an 8th gen or later machine if you can. I'd imagine there's a lot out there for ~$200 if you look for T480 or equivalent machines. Screen dimensions vary a lot among even the same models, the Elitebook I have could have like 6 or 8 different screens, I just got lucky with a 1080p 120hz panel. Rexxed fucked around with this message at 01:11 on Dec 21, 2023 |
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Dec 21, 2023 01:05
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T450s is is also going to be that generation with the abominable clunky trackpad, I think.
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Dec 21, 2023 01:09
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Doom Mathematic posted:I am considering replacing my ThinkPad T490s. It was (still is) a great machine. I like that it's sleek, light, very quiet, with a battery which still lasts most of a day. Its direct successor seems to be the ThinkPad T14s Gen 4. Do I just go for that? My T490s has an Intel Core i5-8365U. Of all the CPUs available for the T14s Gen 4 it looks like the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 7840U offers a pretty significant performance uplift. Does that come at the expense of say heat, noise, battery life? I use Windows so I'm hoping there aren't going to be driver issues? T14s with a 7840 is a powerful machine, an easy recommendation for powerful portable productivity use. Compared to the i5 8000 series it won't be much hotter, technically the 7840 can use more power but it's also something like 300+% faster so it won't really need to work hard for most loads in comparison. I'm not sure why you think there'll be driver issues, but AMD is widely used and supported. You won't see any kind of compatibility issues.
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Dec 21, 2023 02:20
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I would expect that every laptop with wireless would be dual 2.4ghz/5ghz band. The 2.4ghz antenna is needed for bluetooth, so adding 2.4ghz wifi is almost free from a design perspective.
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Dec 21, 2023 05:00
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For compute the t450 is fine it's the decade old battery that's going to suck. I can't remember if laptop screens were still atrocious back then but they probably were for thinkpadswolrah posted:I don't think I've ever heard of an end-user device that only supported 5 GHz without any 2.4 GHz support since 802.11a was still relevant. I forget exactly but I think my Google nest Wi-Fi only has 5ghz, which is a real pain in the dick because the Philips hue base station is 2.4ghz only; took me about three days to figure out why it wouldn't connect to Wi-Fi
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Dec 21, 2023 07:30
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more like giga hurts 
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Dec 21, 2023 16:16
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Hadlock posted:I forget exactly but I think my Google nest Wi-Fi only has 5ghz, which is a real pain in the dick because the Philips hue base station is 2.4ghz only; took me about three days to figure out why it wouldn't connect to Wi-Fi AFAIK what happens is that even if both frequencies have the same SSID, they still have different BSSIDs, which is basically the radio MAC address. For whatever reason, I'm guessing simplifying the microcontroller side of the equation, a lot of phone setup processes will send the BSSID to the device which means it won't work if your phone is connected to a radio the device being set up can't see. That's a design flaw in the IoT device and/or its app, but it's a common enough design flaw that Nest really should allow the networks to be on separate SSIDs so the easiest workaround is available. Alternatively you have to figure out how to force your phone on to the 2.4GHz radio. That said, the Philips Hue base station doesn't have WiFi at all so that's why it won't connect.
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Dec 21, 2023 18:04
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Low tech solution to setting up the device on a network with same SSID for both frequencies is to take a walk down the street until your phone drops to 2.4ghz  Heck, if you are using a mesh network like Nest or google wifi, you can probably get away with unplugging all the mesh points and putting as many walls between you and the main point as possible. It's a pain, but hopefully you only have to do it on setup of the device.
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Dec 21, 2023 21:25
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wolrah posted:That said, the Philips Hue base station doesn't have WiFi at all so that's why it won't connect. Oh maybe it was one of those smart baby devices. We got All The Things when we moved and setup the nursery a couple years ago
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Dec 21, 2023 22:49
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bull3964 posted:Low tech solution to setting up the device on a network with same SSID for both frequencies is to take a walk down the street until your phone drops to 2.4ghz
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Dec 22, 2023 21:16
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Hey! That Asus TUF 4070 finally went on sale again. See? Told you it'd happen before Christmas. $980, which is kinda a bonkers price for a 4070 laptop https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-t...p?skuId=6535503
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Dec 22, 2023 23:28
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Lockback posted:Hey! That Asus TUF 4070 finally went on sale again. See? Told you it'd happen before Christmas. $980, which is kinda a bonkers price for a 4070 laptop Geez that is an insanely good price. I wish the Strix line saw deals like that. I'd love to snag a 4070 G16 for Not 1500USD+.
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Dec 23, 2023 19:23
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My GF has been waffling on getting a new laptop for a while (literally an entire year) and it 1) had to be able to play BG3, 2) had to be 15" (preferably without a numpad), 3) had to be thin and light, and 4) had to cost less than $650. We finally pulled the trigger on a refurbished 2020 AMD Omen 15 with a 1660ti for $570 as that seemed to satisfy every requirement apart from weight. Unfortunately it looks like HP stopped pushing out model-specific graphics drivers for it, and using Nvidia's stock drivers disables automatic switching between the iGPU and dedicated graphics to maximize battery life. Is she leaving a ton of performance on the table by using older, less optimized drivers or is it not worth worrying about?
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Dec 24, 2023 05:24
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BG3 in particular might care. Give it a try with each and see. With an older GPU like that it's hard to tell if driver tweaks apply at all or not.
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Dec 24, 2023 07:34
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change my name posted:My GF has been waffling on getting a new laptop for a while (literally an entire year) and it 1) had to be able to play BG3, 2) had to be 15" (preferably without a numpad), 3) had to be thin and light, and 4) had to cost less than $650. We finally pulled the trigger on a refurbished 2020 AMD Omen 15 with a 1660ti for $570 as that seemed to satisfy every requirement apart from weight. Unfortunately it looks like HP stopped pushing out model-specific graphics drivers for it, and using Nvidia's stock drivers disables automatic switching between the iGPU and dedicated graphics to maximize battery life. It's probably noticeable performance, yeah. Is it visible as two display adapters? Can you disable the 1660ti and just enable it when it's needed for bear sex?
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Dec 24, 2023 07:56
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HP has a pretty nice deal on their new 14in AMD powered Pavilion Plus. 530USD gets you a 6 core Ryzen 5 7540U (Zen 4 + RDNA3 740m) 16GB of ram and a 512GB SSD. 1920X1200 display. 80 dollars more will add a 120hz 2560 x 1600 LCD. It can be bumped up to a Ryzen 7 and a 2.8k OLED for a total of 770USD, but I think the cheaper option would make for a nice 14in everyday machine that won't be performance limited. https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/pdp/hp-pavilion-plus-laptop-14z-ey000-14-7y8v4av-1 Don't see too many Phoenix APU machines floating around.
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Dec 26, 2023 06:43
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I need to help my dad get a new Windows 11 laptop, the most demanding thing it will do is play youtube videos. All I want to know is if 16gb of ram would be overkill, or if 8gb is fine for general web browsing.
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Dec 26, 2023 22:33
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Lockback posted:BG3 in particular might care. Give it a try with each and see. With an older GPU like that it's hard to tell if driver tweaks apply at all or not. She just ignored the out-of-date driver warning and everything seems to be running just fine at 1080p high, not going to gently caress with it and A/B test drivers at this point unless I have to change my name fucked around with this message at 22:39 on Dec 26, 2023 |
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Dec 26, 2023 22:37
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Sashimi posted:I need to help my dad get a new Windows 11 laptop, the most demanding thing it will do is play youtube videos. All I want to know is if 16gb of ram would be overkill, or if 8gb is fine for general web browsing. 8GB is fine for that usage case, but unless you're buying a Mac the upgrade from 8 to 16GB should cost less than $20 and I'd suggest it's worth doing. If it's $50 or more don't bother. Apple charges $200, of course.
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Dec 26, 2023 22:52
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Sashimi posted:I need to help my dad get a new Windows 11 laptop, the most demanding thing it will do is play youtube videos. All I want to know is if 16gb of ram would be overkill, or if 8gb is fine for general web browsing. If he's a tab hoarder you may want the 16GB, but if he's a light browser 8GB should be just fine.
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Dec 26, 2023 22:59
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For the first time in my life, I have a laptop eith soldered RAM/SSD (a lenovo yoga). Is there anything special I should/shouldn't do with it to help with longevity? I've revived enough dead machines with new RAM to be skeezed out. Also, the screen is absolutely incredible. Is there a way to utilize it after the rest of the laptop dies?
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Dec 27, 2023 14:33
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Not really too both, but also I wouldn't expect you should need to worry too much about them dying, laptops from the past ~4 ish years have generally been made to a higher quality than prior to that, so less likely it just up and dies. Also, depending on age you may be able to get a replacement main board if it does die. I wouldn't pre-buy, and I've never taken apart a Yoga but other Lenovos are usually pretty straightforward to pull apart.
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Dec 27, 2023 15:08
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Are there laptops other than the ASUS ROG x16 that have pen support and a decent GPU and large high-ish (90 or more) refresh rate screen? I'm surprised this form factor isn't that popular as it could basically replace the wacom monitor I have to drag around everywhere with my Macbook Pro. Wacom drivers have also been making GBS threads the bed recently for me.
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Dec 27, 2023 17:57
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That form factor + GPU is hard to power and cool. MSI summit E16, but i think it's quite a bit bigger and I don't know the pen support.
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Dec 27, 2023 22:38
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Sashimi posted:I need to help my dad get a new Windows 11 laptop, the most demanding thing it will do is play youtube videos. All I want to know is if 16gb of ram would be overkill, or if 8gb is fine for general web browsing. I'd say 16GB is the baseline now, at least for Windows. My mediocre Dell work laptop had a noticeable increase in usability when I kicked it from 8 to 16GB. It runs smoother and is less janky than it used to be. Your mileage might vary, but I cringe at the idea of running Windows on less than 16GB of RAM nowadays.
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Dec 27, 2023 23:02
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google chrome is using over 6 gig right now and i have fewer than 20 tabs open
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Dec 28, 2023 02:44
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Web pages are true applications now It's possible to write and host a static website but front end developers weren't happy with stuff like front end frameworks so now they have "web assembly"  which allows you to compile stuff like C++ golang and rust down to web assembly and then view it on any number of mobile and desktop devices16gb is a good starting point I'm about to buy a desktop for the first time in over a decade, chatting with my power user buddies today about if I need 64 or 96gb memory You can get by with 8gb but it's going to be painful and not really feel like you upgraded by getting a new laptop
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Dec 28, 2023 03:29
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Worf posted:google chrome is using over 6 gig right now and i have fewer than 20 tabs open Chrome will actively start compiling pages you haven't visited yet and store in memory as long as you have free memory. It isn't "using" that much RAM, it's free so it's taking it at low priority and will release chunks of it if the OS goes to resize due to another request. So don't use the task manager as a measuring stick because Chrome is happily compiling JavaScript from a website you last visited 6 months ago JUST IN CASE. That said while 8GB will work things will probably feel slow often enough that 16 is worth the small uplift. If your getting a laptop for free or really cheap then 8GB won't hurt but if your spending more than $300 you should probably either get it with 16gb or upgrade it yourself.
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Dec 28, 2023 03:35
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