I’m looking into buying a ThinkPad solely to run Haiku, but I want to hear your ideas as to what the best ThinkPad model to run Haiku might be.
I’d like to know which one might be best in terms of driver support and hardware compatibility in addition to good speed (of course, most anything can run Haiku relatively quickly given how lightweight it is).
With the knowledge you all may provide, I’d hope to buy that perfect ThinkPad to run the nightly builds as a daily driver.
it will be a normal question.
what is the best haiku-box that we voted?
…
by the way, do not be afraid about speed.
haiku always run quickly.
compatibility is the key.
YouTuber Action Retro has been using a ThinkPad X1 Carbon with Haiku to mostly good results. Only screen brightness doesn’t work, not counting the GPU since Haiku barely has any hardware-accelerated graphics.
I bought a T430 to run Haiku, it works very well.
There isn’t a single machine that will make everyone happy. You have to pick your own “best” machine depending on your own requirements.
just a suggestion for buying a computer to run haiku-os.
people like having some suggestion for deciding.
and the best haiku-box will change every year or every month.
From what I saw in the new video touchpad also not working which might be relevant for people who have not seen the light and become trackpoint users even on a Thinkpad. You could also see the lack of support as a feature that teaches those people to start using it I guess. Oh and the fingerprint reader was not working either.
Oh yeah my bad, forgot about the touchpad. As for the fingerprint sensor, don’t think Haiku supports that class of hardware yet.
I can share my own experience. Thinkpad T480s 20L8 14" works great except a few things:
I know that T490 works well too (they are almost identical).
ThinkPad X1 Carbon maybe…
Check the video from here:
The Xn30 series Thinkpads are fast enough for most purposes; cheap, well-made, and very customisable. You can change almost anything.
I have too many Thinkpads, but the T430, T530, W530 and X230 are all great machines and still work well - even (shudder) with Windows.
I can’t find any called Xn30…?
These may not be available in certain regions, though. The link provided is for Italy.
I have both T430 and X1 Carbon and it works fine…
X represents any letter, and n represents any number.
So Xn30 can be T430, T530, W530, etc. The 30 series was the last series of Thinkpads that were almost infinitely upgradeable (or downgradable). They were also relatively modern, and in terms of performance compare reasonably well with more recent laptops, except for battery life.
They also don’t seem to be particularly prone to problems. The lovely T61 laptops, on the other hand, were notorious for motherboard failure. It was a shame because T61s are my favourite classic Thinkpads. They had wonderful screens and superbly complicated keyboards (though easy to use. They just looked good.)
Currently, my main computer is a W530 running Windows. A second computer is a T430 running Haiku, a third is an X230 also running Haiku, and a fourth is a like-new T61P (so far it hasn’t failed) with Haiku. I have to admit that it strains my eyes to use the T61P because I have to use its native resolution of 1920 x 1200. (Not bad for a 2007 laptop!) But have I mentioned that it’s a lovely machine?
Anyway, you can’t go wrong with a T430 and Haiku. If you don’t like the screen - change it. If you need more RAM - add it. If you want more power - install an I7 chip. If you want a second HDD - remove the DVD player and replace it with a hard drive. SSDs are fine. If you would prefer a classic Thinkpad keyboard (and they are nice) - install it.
And there are more possibilities. The point is that you can buy a badly specc’d machine and upgrade it easily and for not much money.
Finally, buy a dock. They are dirt cheap and give more and better ports. You can’t run a second screen at its highest res without a dock (and I am sure that Waddlesplash is working on second screens right now!).
Wifi and autoconnection is a bit hit and miss. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, and I don’t know why.
Thinkpads are very widely available.
Oh, thanks. I’m starting to get a bit itchy for big, beautiful screens though. My main machine being a 16" MBP means my Thinkpad always seems a bit less than stellar. I don’t know about all Thinkpads but the two I’ve used have had very plasticky, grainy screens. I miss the perfect, smooth, glassy look.
You can look for a Thinkpad with a colorimeter.
They have better (but still matte) screens.
Selected models might have stock glossy screens (T480s among them).
You can get a replacement LCD screen from Innolux that manufactures the LCD panels for the Thinkpads.
I suspect they are discontinued now but there are sellers around that have sealed new pieces in stock (mainly from China).
Have a look at here.